Gollum actor in The Lord of the Rings: Only when the original director returns will he be willing to act in a new film

A new Lord of the Rings movie is currently in production, and actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the original trilogy, has expressed interest in reprising the role, but with one condition.

Speaking on the Post-Credit podcast, he said he would "definitely return to The Lord of the Rings" if given the chance, but only if the key figures behind the original trilogy, directors Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh and screenwriter Philippa Burns, also returned.

Serkis said that these three people are like a "second family" to him.

He said: "And, let me tell you, they are the most wonderful, incredible people to work with. I think there are a lot of other potential Middle-earth projects that could come up, and if they are doing it, I would definitely jump at the opportunity to rekindle that relationship... Middle-earth has never been far from my mind."

He mentioned that three key figures behind the original films have been briefed on the new Lord of the Rings project, but it is unclear whether they will be directly involved in the production. The three are not involved in Amazon's "Power of the Rings", but there are also reports that the new film is looking to bring Peter Jackson back.

Andy Serkis played the motion capture character Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit", and thus became a pioneer of CG movie motion capture actors. He has played some motion-capture roles since then, but he is also an excellent ordinary actor. In "The New Batman", he played "Butler" Alfred, and in the "Star Wars" TV series "Andor", he played Kino, an important character in the prison.

Warner Discovery recently announced plans to make more Lord of the Rings films, but no scripts have been written yet. A new animated film, The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War, is set to be released in 2024.