Andy Serkis' big cinema break came thanks to his skills as a performance capture artist on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy as Gollum. Never before had an effect, been so affecting. Such was the skill of his craft and the technical expertise of WETA that he was chosen to do the same job on King Kong and the forthcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes among others but he has also since become a familiar face in his own right. And he's back, as are most of the Rings cast, for The Hobbit. Speaking to THR about being back in Middle Earth as Gollum he says;
When we created Gollum the first time, performance capture was it its infancy, adding within the industry, there is more appreciation for it as an acting art form. Its all about character, learning what the character thinks, feels, how he carries pain.
and his relationship with director Peter Jackson;
I think I understand Peters sensibility and we have a common history of understanding Middle Earth, and A lot of the crew from The Lord of the Rings was returning to work on The Hobbit. There is really a sense of Peter wanting people around him who totally understand the material and the work ethic.
But Serkis isn't just back to don the stretchy suit, in fact he has already finished shooting his scenes for the film. For the rest of the length shoot he'll be serving time as Second Unit Director to Peter Jackson, I imagine because Jackson and the cast just like keeping him around the set so much. In case you have always wondered what a second unit director does, they generally are used to film inserts, cutaways, close up, establishing shot and lots of stunt-work. You'll find many a stunt co-ordinator as second unit director. They exist to help the actual director concentrate on filming scenes that generally require the principal cast and throughout the LOTR trilogy, which had a massive ensemble cast and a considerable amount of locations, many moments were shot by the second unit director, duties of which were mostly taken up by Jackson's co-screenwriter Fran Walsh. On the offer of a new job;
When Peter asked me. There was this email out of the blue. It was a fantastic surprise. adding a little about the depth of involvement, "It is wide ranging and encompasses a lot of directing aspects of filmmaking and story. Yes, there is some performance capture, but I will be very much on the live action sets and locations helping Peter to tell the story." He go. I was looking forward to doing it. He never really left me.
Expect plenty more news, hopefully all good from New Zealand as we head towards the first part's eventual release on 19th December 2012.