Andy Serkis Is Reading The Hobbit Cover To Cover In A 12-Hour Marathon

Actor, writer, and director Andy Serkis--perhaps known best for his portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings--is l reading J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit in one go to raise money for charity. The event is underway, so don't miss you chance to hear him do his famous Gollum voice.

Over the course of 12 hours, Serkis will read the entirety of The Hobbit as part of what he's calling a "Hobbitathon." The event began on May 8 at 10 AM BST (2 AM PT / 5 AM ET), and Serkis will not stop until he's finished the book. "From cover to cover, there and back again," he said.

Serkis has set up a GoFundMe page for this charity drive, asking for £100,000 in total, which will go to the UK charities Best Beginnings and NHS Charities Together. He's already raised more than £74,000.

"From an unexpected party to the last stage, join Bilbo and me on this tale of high adventure," Serkis said. "Together we'll face the might of the trolls, journey to the magical Rivendell, encounter the giant spiders in the labyrinths of Mirkwood, and the evil goblins living among the roots of the Misty Mountains, until we meet the dragon Smaug, and see the Battle of the Five Armies."

Serkis said he received permission from The Tolkien Estate and the book's publisher, HarperCollins, to hold this one-off charity campaign.

Serkis portrayed Smeagol/Gollum in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series. He is also known for portraying Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes series, while he also performed the role of Monkey in Ninja Theory's 2010 adventure game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. More recently, Serkis directed Mowgli for Netflix and he's also directing the 2021 Venom sequel, Let There Be Carnage. Serkis also voiced Snoke in the new Star Wars movies, while he is set to play Alfred in the new Batman film.

If you prefer the Harry Potter fantasy world, the stars of the movie series are reading the first book, The Sorcerer's Stone, as part of the new "Harry Potter at Home" initiative. Daniel Radcliffe is kicked things off by reading chapter one.