Gollum’s voice is heard by everyone who has ever seen Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since its first release in 2001 to 2003, it has become one of the most famous cinema series ever.
In May, the CBR website reported on a BAFTA interview with actor Andy Serkis. He surprisingly revealed which animal gave him the idea for Gollum’s strange voice. Inspiration literally walked in the door.
A choking cat was the model for Gollum
Andy Serkis was initially skeptical about auditioning for Gollum – after all, it was a dubbing role. Even back then, Serkis preferred to stand in front of the camera with full physical effort.
He read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and developed an idea of how Gollum’s pain could be conveyed through his voice. The inspiration for this literally came from around the corner: his cat, who at that moment had decided to regurgitate a ball of fur.
Andy Serkis was thrilled by the scratchy noise his cat made. He knew this would be the right sound for Gollum’s voice.
Andy Serkis’ performance changed Lord of the Rings
Andy Serkis was very successful with his portrayal of Gollum. According to him, casting director John Hubbard’s jaw literally dropped when he encountered the croaking actor at the audition.
Contrary to Serkis’ fears, this turned out to be a good sign: at their first meeting, the director opened up to him Peter Jackson said he wanted Serkis on the set of Lord of the Rings. His colleagues should be face to face with a real actor.
As soon as filming began, Jackson became aware of Andy Serkis’ acting range. He decided to make his facial expressions the basis for the CGI technique used. He has also come to terms with the many parodies of his motion capture performance of Gollum. Even a film about Gollum by Andy Serkis himself is currently in the works.
As we know, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 was the beginning of a sensational success story. Andy Serkis worked with motion capture in numerous film projects in the future, such as the current Planet of the Apes series, and founded a film production company called The Imaginarium that promotes this technology.