Andy Serkis is opening up about the cast of the upcoming movie Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
The 62-year-old is not only reprising his role as the titular character, Gollum, in the film, but he’s also serving as director.
In a recent interview, Andy was asked about the film and the franchise having a lack of diversity in it’s casting.
“Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology, there’s a lot of that feeling,” he told BBC. “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.”
He also explained that the upcoming movie will acknowledge the lack of diversity.
“Yes, there have been criticisms,” Andy continued. “This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that. But I 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 where relevant basically.”
While the movies have featured all-white casts, the Prime Video series, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, has a more diverse cast.
After the series’ casting faced racist backlash, film stars Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd, stood up for the series’ cast, posting a photo on social media of themselves wearing a shirt featuring ears in various skin tones.
Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum was just confirmed to start production, as seen in the video above.
Joining Andy in the cast include Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan, Anya Taylor-Joy, Leo Woodall, and Lee Pace, plus Ian McKellan and Elijah Wood reprising their roles!
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