Andy Serkis says filming Gollum in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been a “fantastic” experience. Serkis was talking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2012, where he received a Virtuosos Award for The Rise of the Planet of the Apes reports Collider.
When asked what was it like to revisit Gollum again, 10 years after The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Serkis revealed how the motion-capture technology has moved on, “What’s great is that, with the technology, we can shoot on a live-action set. I don’t have to go back and repeat the process. There’s no disconnect anymore. When I’m acting with my fellow actor on a live-action set, it’s all for real and whatever happens between those two actors is what’s recorded. The live-action actor is recorded with film cameras while my performance as Gollum is recorded with performance capture cameras.”
Serkis also commented on being the Second Unit Director, “It’s great! … I feel very at home with Middle Earth. I feel equipped to be Peter’s eyes and ears on the Second Unit, which is a big operation. We’re covering a lot of stuff. We shoot everything from drama to aerial shots to battle sequences. I’m very pleased to be at this point.”
And Gollum himself? “All I can say is that he’s 60 years younger and a lot more handsome,“ quipped Serkis.
