Andy Serkis on Gollum: Performance Capture Is 'Misunderstood'

Andy Serkis said he was once "evangelical" about performance capture after playing Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings," but now accepts the technology is "misunderstood" and has adopted a more relaxed attitude, saying "If you get it? Great." In an interview with the Times, Serkis argued that performances like Gollum are "authored by an actor" in the same way prosthetics created John Hurt in "The Elephant Man," calling CGI a "digital mask." He noted he "never really cared about" being associated with his digitally-altered characters, which also include Kong and Caesar. Serkis returns as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum," which he also directs, opening Dec. 17, 2027. Peter Jackson previously said AI concerns have hurt Serkis's awards chances, calling his work "human-generated performance 100% of the way."