Andy Serkis has said his new Lord of the Rings film won’t do ‘politically correct casting-for-the sake-of-casting’ as he defended its all-white line-up.
The Gollum star, whose career was launched into the mainstream by the motion capture role in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy of movies adapted from JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novels, is returning to the part for The Hunt for Gollum.
Serkis, 62, is also directing the movie, which ‘sits absolutely between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies’, he says, and is currently filming in New Zealand.
The main actors in the cast announced so far have all been white; Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall, Jamie Dornan – who replaces Viggo Mortensen in the role of Strider (aka Aragorn) – and, most recently, Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as returning stars Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf.
The original Lord of the Rings films, released between 2001 and 2003, also featured almost completely white casts – but were made in a time before colour-blind casting was a consideration.
Explaining the choice, Serkis told BBC News: ‘Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology, there’s a lot of that feeling.
‘The Shire feels very, very much like a very, a very white, you know…
‘They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in.’
Actor and filmmaker Serkis, who has also directed an animated modern version of Animal Farm, also recognised that ‘there have been criticisms’ in this vein and said that ‘this particular film is somewhat acknowledging that’.
‘But we don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s only where relevant basically.’
More casting announcements are expected to come for the film in due course, which is scheduled for a December 2027 release and will be followed by second new Lord of the Rings film, Shadow of the Past, written by former US chat show host and Tolkien enthusiast, Stephen Colbert.
Prime Video’s mega-budget TV spin-off, The Lord of the Ring: The Rings of Power, cast diversely with its Harfoot characters, ancestors of the Hobbits who settled the Shire, with actors including Sir Lenny Henry and Sara Zwangobani.
Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays Arondir, was also the first person of colour to portray an elf in the franchise, but the series was forced to release a statement condemning the ‘relentless racism’ aimed at its Black actors.
Serkis, who has confirmed AI will be used in The Hunt for Gollum to de-age some of the characters, previously spoke about being one of the few white actors in Black Panther with Martin Freeman, and how it gave them a new understanding of what it feels like to be the minority on a film set.
The new film is ‘very much a deep dive into the psychology and history of Gollum before he became Gollum’, Serkis has said, as well as teasing that the hunt takes place ‘in two different dimensions really’ with Gandalf also pursuing the origins of the ring in Bilbo Baggins’ possession.
The Hunt for Gollum is drawn from the meaty appendices of The Lord of the Rings.
‘Little side stories, embellishments, enlargements – and part of The Hunt for Gollum is described in that. Gollum’s childhood and how he became what he was. Him trying to get to the Shire, and the Rangers tracking him down. He ends up being captured and taken to Mordor – it’s all in the appendices,’ producer Jackson confirmed to IndieWire.
Winslet is playing Marigol, while Taylor-Joy is understood to have been cast as an elf and Woodall is playing new character Halvard, who wasn’t part of Tolkien’s original books.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will release in cinemas on December 17, 2027.