Andy “Gollum” Serkis got a little too close to the apes to channel King Kong. King Kong’s return, 72 years after his introduction in the original classic, is the year’s best more-than-mortal comeback since Batman Begins. And the giant ape owes it to his alter ego, Andy Serkis. Serkis can do it all, from balding mystical runt to huge, hairy anthropoid in a blink of the camera’s eye. He was the heart and soul of creepy Gollum, the defrocked hobbit in The Lord of the Rings. Now he’s Hollywood’s go-to guy for iconic gorillas in our midst. [More]

Andy Serkis, who has been hailed as the heart and soul of King Kong, put so much into his portrayal of the legendary giant gorilla that he wept tears of joy when he saw the full movie for the first time. The 41-year-old actor – who so memorably brought Gollum to the screen in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy – doubled for the computerised Kong in the epic movie, which also stars Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody and Jack Black. [More]

Jason writes: I don’t know if you’ve reported this but Andy Serkis appeared as Gollum at Wellington’s Tenacious D concert last night (Monday 27th). He and Jack Black sang “You’re the one that I want” from Grease. It featured a nice lil bit of Scat between Serkis & Black.