Ringer Spy Albertine sends along a very rare Andy Serkis (Gollum) article, the main focus of the piece is Lorraine Ashbourne, Serkis’ long time partner. But there are a few interesting LOTR remarks:
“Andy and I have made an agreement that only one of us is going to be away working at a time, so when he’s filming – which he’s doing a lot of at the moment – I’ll be here. Although the LOTR movies have been shot, there are going to be some reshoots, which means he’ll be away.”
“During her 12-month break from acting, Lorraine and the children accompanied Andrew to New-Zealand. (…) The powers that be have decided not to unveil Gollum in full until the second instalment and, to maintain the surprise, Andy has been asked not to discuss the role for the time being.
Lorraine, however, reveals fans will be amazed when the character finally appears. “The transformation of Andy into Gollum is amazing. It took about 13 hours each time and involved his entire body because he’s supposed to be about 180 years old. His skin looks almost transparent”, she says. “When I first saw him like that it brought tears to my eyes; he was unrecognisable.
I’m an actor and used to make-up but seeing my own partner like that was phenomenal.”
She is full of praise for Andy’s film. “The locations for LOTR are out of this world. They shot on top of glaciers, they shot in caves, they shot in prehistoric forests. It was absolutely amazing and we had the good fortune to be there”, she says. “Peter Jackson, who directed the film, and his wife, Fran, who’s co-written it, are superbly talented and just the right people to be behind it”.
