Lord of the Rings Actor Andy Serkis Playing Villain in Stealth Game, Volume

Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis will play a lead role in upcoming stealth game Volume, from Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell. The Gollum actor will voice a villain named Guy Gisborne.

You might be wondering how Bithell was able to attract Serkis to the project. After all, Serkis--who will appear in next year's Star Wars: Episode VII--is a top talent in Hollywood. According to Bithell, Serkis was his "dream" actor for the role, and, after some initial struggles, Bithell was able to snag him for the game with help from British casting studio Side.

"We'd been looking for an actor to play Gisborne for a while, and even come close to casting it with different folks," Bithell told Gamasutra. "After one of those attempts fell through, it was a back to the drawing board moment, and I decided to stop compromising, and go for my dream actor for the role-- who I'd get if practicality and reality weren't an issue."

"Thank god [Serkis] said yes, and had some time clear in his busy schedule," Bithell added.

This is not Serkis' first video game appearance. He played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings licensed games, and had parts in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and Heavenly Sword."

Volume launches in 2015 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and PC.