The Lord of the Rings

star Andy Serkis recalls having a confusing first day on set as Gollum. Based on source material from J. R. R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson’s debut Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001, introducing Elijah Wood’s Frodo Baggins and his quest to destroy the One Ring. The Fellowship of the Ring was a hit, and two more installments, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, were released in 2002 and 2003, respectively, with Serkis’ Gollum, a CGI creation, playing an increasingly important role as Frodo and Sam’s (Sean Astin) guide through Mordor.

During a recent appearance at C2E2 2025 (via Popverse), Serkis recalls his very first day on set as Gollum for The Lord of the Rings. The three films in Jackson’s trilogy were all filmed together out of order, meaning Serkis’ first day of filming was a scene that would end up in The Return of the King. The actor recalls the crew not totally knowing what to make of him in his special motion-capture suit, and even Jackson was laughing. Check out Serkis’ recollection of his first day below:

“These guys had been filming for about 4 or 5 months before I got out to New Zealand. I was going through the preparations for becoming Gollum, and I was often on my own and crawling about, and kind of practicing, and doing what I was doing. And then the day came.

“Film is all sH๏τ out of order, and my first scene was scene 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 Pete Jackson laughing at me. All the crew were kind of going, ‘Who is that guy and what the hell is he doing here? Can you get him out of sH๏τ because we want to shoot here.’ I don’t think anybody really knew what I was doing there on the very first day.

“We then sH๏τ the scene and that was a very beautiful thing, but it was months of sort of preparation and then standing there. And it did make me laugh when I could see Peter standing in front of me giggling like a child, because here was this character Gollum coming to life, but all it was, was this guy with a shaved head in this very thin suit going, ‘[Gollum noise].’”

What This Means For The Lord Of The Rings

Serkis’ Performance Helped To Pave The Way For Major VFX Advancements

Serkis’ Gollum performance and Wētã FX’s work that was done to bring that character to life in the three Lord of the Rings movies was groundbreaking. Prior to Gollum, there had been CGI movie creatures, but they weren’t really delivering complex, elongated performances like Serkis was doing with Gollum. It’s no wonder, then, that crew members were confused about Serkis’ presence, as they had surely never seen a performance captured in this way before.

The Lord of the Rings VFX work was so impressive that all three films in the trilogy took home Best VFX Oscars. The trilogy essentially laid the groundwork for future CGI characters and motion capture, and an evolution of this technology was used during the filming of the new Planet of the Apes movies and the Avatar movies, both of which Wētã FX is heavily involved in.

As for Serkis, he is now widely seen as the preeminent motion capture performer in Hollywood. In addition to reprising his role as Gollum for The Hobbit trilogy, he also helped bring to life Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movies, Snoke in Star Wars, and Baloo in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018). He’s now set to return as Gollum once more in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which he will also direct.

Our Take On Serkis’ Lord Of The Rings Set Story

Gollum Was A Leap Of Faith

Watching behind-the-scenes footage of Serkis as Gollum on the set of The Lord of the Rings, it’s clear that Jackson and the cast and crew had a lot of trust in the artists at Wētã FX, previously Weta Digital. With Gollum, the trilogy was really in uncharted territory. Making the character a CGI creation was a risk, and one that could certainly have hurt the films’ rewatchability as VFX technology advances. It evidently all worked out, however, and Gollum – and the Lord of the Rings trilogy as a whole – still holds up remarkably well today, more than two decades later.

Source: C2E2 (via Popverse)

The Lord of the Rings

Movie(s)

The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Created by

J.R.R. Tolkien

First Film

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Cast

Norman Bird, Anthony Daniels, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Morfydd Clark, Mike Wood, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lenny Henry, Brian Cox, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Bilal Hasna, Benjamin Wainwright, Luke Pasqualino, Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt

TV Show(s)

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Character(s)

Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, Legolas, Boromir, Sauron, Gollum, Samwise Gamgee, Pippin Took, Celeborn, Aragorn, Galadriel, Bilbo Baggins, Saruman, Aldor, Wormtongue, Thorin Oakenshield, Balin Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, Ori, Tauriel, King Thranduil, Smaug, Radagast, Arondir, Nori Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow, Marigold Brandyfoot, Queen Regent Míriel, Sadoc Burrows

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