Gollum Actor Andy Serkis Still Wants To Come Back For New Lord Of The Rings Movies

Actor Andy Serkis, who famously played Gollum in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie series, has said for at least a second time that he would be interested in coming back for the newly announced Lord of the Rings films.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Serkis said Peter Jackson and writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are "a second family to me." Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens are not confirmed to be coming back yet, but if they do, Serkis would jump at the opportunity to be involved.

"I've spent so many years making films with them," Serkis said. "I love their sensibility and their take; it's filmmaking on a different kind of level. You live and breathe it. And so, yes, if some opportunity were to come up, it would be an amazing thing."

Before this, Serkis said pretty much the same thing in April about potentially coming back to The Lord of the Rings series. Referring to Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens as his "second family," Serkis said he would leap at the chance to return.

"They are the best and most incredible people to work with. I think that there are so many other potential Middle-earth projects which could come about, and if they're doing them, I would, of course, jump at the chance to have that relationship rekindled… Middle-earth has never left me," Serkis said.

Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens have been briefed on the new Lord of the Rings projects, but whether or not they will actually be involved in any new productions remains to be seen. In any event, this is a key piece of news because the trio were not involved in Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. A report said efforts are being made to "woo back" Jackson for the new films.

Serkis played the motion-capture character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He recently recalled how he was mocked for playing Gollum but in the end, Serkis would prove to be a pioneer for motion-capture roles and make a career out of it. Beyond motion-capture roles, Serkis is an accomplished traditional actor. He recently starred in The Batman as Alfred and on the Star Wars TV series Andor as Kino.

The new Lord of the Rings movies will be set in the Third Age, and Gollum is around then. But Serkis wouldn't necessarily need to play Gollum again.

It's very early days, and no scripts are written yet for the new Lord of the Rings movies. On the more immediate horizon is the new animated movie, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, which releases in 2024.

For more, check out GameSpot's breakdown of everything we know about the new Lord of the Rings movies.

Outside of the movies, Amazon Studios is making The Rings of Power Season 2, and Amazon Games is developing a new Lord of the Rings video game.