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The first time Andy Serkis showed up on the set of The Lord of the Rings, it wasn't exactly a red carpet moment. How about a fairly new actor showing up in the middle of a humongous movie production full of veteran actors and industry professionals, wearing a squeeze-fit motion-capture suit that made him look like a science experiment gone wrong instead of a star player? Of course, the reception was not quite warm.
As Serkis himself remembers, the crew's response on the sets of The Lord of the Rings was something like: "Who is that guy, and what the hell is he doing here?"
Speaking at a reunion panel of the cast of The Lord of the Rings at the recent Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, Serkis remarked,
"Film is all shot out of order, and my first scene was 765 of film 3, and I remember crawling onto the set, and sort of becoming Gollum with my thin Lycra suit on, and then getting into character. And then Peter Jackson laughing at me. All the crew were kind of going, ‘Who is that guy, and what the hell is he doing here?'"
He continued, telling the crowd what Peter Jackson said on his first day on set,
"'Can you get him out of shot because we want to shoot here.’ I don’t think anybody really knew what I was doing there on the very first day.”
Speaking to GQ, Serkis remarked that even after the film's release, people were confused about who he was! He told GQ
"When Lord Of The Rings originally came out, there would be literally people who would say: 'Who is that character? Is he a dancer? Is he a contortionist?' "
Yes, that was the actual atmosphere on set of The Lord of the Rings. So who was that fellow? He was the voice, body, and very essence of one of the trilogy's most famous characters—Gollum.
Serkis was not merely another thespian reading lines; he was innovating a kind of performance that had not yet been recognized as legitimate acting by Hollywood standards. Motion capture at the time was not being taken seriously. Many didn't realize how an actor crawling around in spandex with dots on his face could somehow become a powerful force in the movies.
But Serkis's performance would come to reimagine what acting in the digital age might look like when motion capture was yet to become popular.
The unappreciated entrance of Andy Serkis on the sets of The Lord of the Rings
Andy Serkis was initially not included in the core group of The Lord of the Rings. He had initially been brought on board purely to voice Gollum. The notion of him physically performing the part was an afterthought—at least to everyone other than director Peter Jackson. Serkis was performing in solitude, with scenes subsequently added in through computer-generated imagery, making his work hard to envision for most on set.
According to GQ, Serkis remembered how his co-actors responded to the concept of motion capturing,
"Older actors were like: 'You wouldn't catch me dead doing motion capture. It's the end of our profession.' I literally heard someone saying that. There were lots of jokes about it; you know, Saturday Night Live things with people in suits with ping pong balls attached. It was ripe for ridiculing – and rightly so."
His bodily presence on set of The Lord of the Rings in the motion capture suit did not quite register with conventional acting norms, and this created confusion and suspicion.
Jackson, though, saw the potential. He realized that Serkis's physicality brought Gollum to life in a way that a simple voice-over could never. While others were confused by Serkis's unusual on-set look, Jackson had the bigger picture: Gollum wasn't a digital creature.
He was a tragic, complicated character who needed a fully physical performance. This change of mind was key to allowing Serkis the space to fully develop and explore Gollum's dual nature.
The difficulty of Gollum's complexity in The Lord of the Rings
Gollum was no ordinary side character in The Lord of the Rings. His internal conflict, suffering, addiction, and manipulation were all packed into a few warped lines of dialogue. To bring that emotional complexity to a character that was to be fully realized in post-production was a Herculean task.
Serkis's process was one of observing animals, trying out voice inflections, and employing physicality to demonstrate the dual personality of Smeagol and Gollum. His performance was raw and highly studied. As per The New Indian Express, Serkis said,
"I spent a lot of time in preparation for that; I would go off for walks on all fours for hours. I did occasionally come into contact with other people, so I just had to pretend I was looking for something. It's fair to say that's pretty method."
Even with the early 2000s technical restraints, Serkis remained closely involved in the visual effects department at Weta Digital. He was filmed wearing a motion capture suit to add the movements to use as guidelines for Gollum's animation, but he also attended the principal photography set to provide someone for the rest of the cast to act opposite.
This middle ground was unheard of, and the crew hadn't experienced this before—which again added to the uncertainty surrounding Serkis's role in the production.
A pivotal moment in Motion Picture history
The doubt only lasted so long. When Serkis's contribution in The Lord of the Rings was completed and incorporated fully into the film, it was apparent just how revolutionary his acting was. Gollum was not just some CGI construct—he was a genuine character, depicted with eerie accuracy. Critics and audiences were flabbergasted by the emotional resonance, and suddenly the man in the goofy suit has become a visionary artist.
This change in perception also initiated a wider debate within Hollywood regarding the legitimacy of motion capture performances. Serkis's work in The Lord of the Rings also paved the way for future digitally-enhanced characters, from Caesar in Planet of the Apes to those in Avatar. But at that time, it all began with that one question—"Who is that guy?" And by the end of the trilogy, there was no doubt as to his identity.
Not just a tech guy in a suit
So, what in the world was Andy Serkis doing there? Redefining an entire industry norm, that's what! Although The Lord of the Rings team might have originally been confused about his role, Serkis was quietly establishing a new standard for performance on film.
His performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings not only revolutionized how audiences perceived digital characters but also compelled the film industry to rethink what it means to "act." Now, Serkis's Gollum stands as a flagship illustration of innovation and art colliding—grotesque motion-capture bodysuit included.
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Also read: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 - Release time of all episodes, revealed
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