Gollum gets personal

The Lord of the Rings stars are in Wellington for The Return of the King premiere tonight. CATHY ARONSON talks to Andy Serkis, the actor who plays Smeagol and Gollum, the hobbit who is transformed into a grotesque creature by the evil power of the ring.

What did you think of the movie?

It was extraordinary, it was very emotional. There was a cast screening at the studio. Seeing it in that theatre was fantastic; it's where a lot of the dailies were screened, it's been our cinema, so to actually finally see it with some of the cast was an extraordinary event and we were all in tears really.

It was very emotional and I suppose because partly it represents the end of an era. But really it's because of the emotional content of all of the performances and because this film has a huge amount of heart and all the characters have their resolution and it's kind of painful to see it all coming to an end.

This movie we finally get to see you as the actor, not just as Gollum

It was great for the character because you finally get to see the back history to Gollum and see him before he became corrupted by the ring so that was really important for the journey of the character. But I never think of it in terms of 'I finally get see myself on film' because the way that we crafted Gollum I see myself on screen, certainly in Two Towers. Not the first one so much because that was more animated, but when we started working on the Two Towers Peter wanted to re-design the face so that the facial muscle structures are the same and I was really controlling every movement of Gollum. So I've always thought of myself as being up on screen.

Gollum's voice is great, do you ever use that voice?

No, it doesn't just pop out. A lot of people have asked me to do their answer phone messages and that. And it's great the fans are into that and excited by it but I guess it will get to the point where I'll say 'right that's it, I'm not doing it any more'.

Where to now?

There are some quite exciting projects happening next year although none of them are committed on paper but there is certainly some interesting stuff around. I just want to carry on playing interesting roles and developing as an actor and spending a bit more time with my family. Also I want to direct and start a production company up. I've directed some short films and a play and I'd really like to work that side as well.

How did your experience in Lord of the Rings change you as an actor?

It certainly developed my technological understanding because we pioneered this way of working with this hybrid of animation and acting. It's pretty impressive the way it worked, a CG character in a live action film. I really enjoyed working with very talented animators, so I feel I've been broadened by that experience hugely.

And also Pete as a director is incredibly inspiring. He really trusts his actors, he's a great collaborator and really installs a great confidence in you to express yourself in different ways. And he's very encouraging and so I feel like I've learnt a hell of a lot from him.

Do you have plans to come back to New Zealand?

I would love to come back to New Zealand. I don't ever intend to lose contact with New Zealand, it feels very much part of the fabric of who I am. I love the place, I love the people here, I feel very at home here. I'm very keen to bring my family back and spend some time with them down here.

Would you like to buy something in NZ?

Possibly yes. I'm very keen on spending time down here.

Do you have any memorabilia that you have kept from the movie?

Oh stacks, I've got tones of stuff. The motion capture team gave me my motion capture suit.

Do you have a ring?

Yeah I finally got it. I've got a fish too. And Peter and Fran gave me a bust of Gollum as well, which was very nice.

How long are you in New Zealand?

We have the premiere on Monday and then we fly out on Tuesday and then we begin the world tour and we do the press in LA and Europe. And then there's the DVD and the extended DVD.

It was awesome in the film to see the progression from Smeagol to Gollum.

You see him as young Smeagol fishing and then once he becomes corrupted by the ring and addicted to the ring he goes through these stages.

It's like the evolution of man in reverse so his body physically decays in front of your eyes and then his bones start poking through the fabric of his clothes as they become threads and he gets thinner and thinner and more withdrawn.

It was incredible, I loved shooting that transformation scene, it really made sense of the character for me.

Did you get to do it in order?

We pretty much did that in order and we invented these little vignette scenes between me and Fran, and we kind of decided what sort of things we wanted to examine and how best to portray this journey into madness really.

So you had a lot of input into your character?

Yeah, they were very receptive to ideas. Obviously in terms of script they had very clear ideas about what they wanted to do but that was the great thing about this whole process, it was very organic and they certainly embraced the actors input.

You've got a family?

I've got two children, Ruby and Sonny. Ruby's five and Sonny's three. Sonny wasn't born actually when I started filming this. I was in a hurry to get back on a flight after we'd been filming to get back in time for his birth.

What do your kids think of the movie?

They've watched the early part of the fellowship, the Hobbiton sequences and then when it starts getting a bit dark they freak out a little bit. They've seen a little bit of Gollum, and they obviously know I'm Gollum. Ruby grew up with it, she was two when we moved down here. She saw me in all that prosthetic make-up for the transformation sequence and I thought she'd be freaked out but she was actually fine. I didn't think she'd recognise me but she looked up and through all that stuff she looked at me and said 'silly daddy'. It didn't effect her in the slightest.

Gollum's not just a scary character, you can feel sorry for him.

Yeah, that's what we wanted. At every stage we all decided it was important for the audience to have empathy with the character or have the possibility to have empathy with the character and therefore make their own minds up about how they judged him and at what point they judge him. And that carries on into the third film so he's not written off at any stage. Even right to the end you still think he is really the victim of this enormous addiction and it kind of begs the question of the audience, you know, what would you do if you had to deal with such an incurable obsession, or such a disease or such an addiction.

The movie was very emotional.

I think people really respond to the sense of family, beyond just the film because the audience know the cast got on very well, there is obviously a big extended family, any film that makes you want to be part of that world. So the closure on it and the sadness about it coming to an end is, yes, the journey's end for the story but it's also the fact that the family is dissipating. I think the fans will find it very emotional, this last one.

Are you ready for it to end?

I don't think it will ever be like an absolute clearcut ending. It'll probably take time for it to gradualy sweep away and gradually become myth and legend. But then the fact is when you get involved in an another project you get a renewed vigour for that and it carries you forward. I know that we'll all see each other and we're bonded by this incredible experience and I have so much admiration and respect for Peter and what he's done and that will always live on. I'm sure there will be reunions galore.


Parade route

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings