6 Most Unusual Demands Made By The Lord Of The Rings Actors

Now, this one might not seem like such a strange demand at all. Nowadays, don't all films that require motion-capture imagery encourage the performers to act on the set, interacting with the other performers in a scene? That was not quite the done thing when Andy Serkis arrived in New Zealand to play the dual role of Smeágol and Gollum.

While motion-capture technology wasn't invented for the Lord of the Rings, one could argue that it was perfected during the production period. Serkis devoted hours and hours of life to playing the villainous character on set, as he felt that standing to the side and shouting his lines for the other performers to react to wouldn't capture the spirit of the scenes.

So, he asked to be physically part of the action, donning his mo-cap suit, and running around like a controlled lunatic. This served not only to allow Serkis the best chance at delivery, and provide the CGI team with an easier reference point, but also allowed actors like Sean Astin and Elijah Wood to delve deeper into each scene - as opposed to having Gollum's lines fed to them via bullhorn.