Andy Serkis Says Gollum Is Disrupting His Sleep

Andy Serkis says returning to Gollum after 26 years has been disrupting his sleep as he prepares to reprise the character and direct The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

In an interview, Serkis described waking at night with his mind still occupied by the role, sometimes unsure whether he was asleep or awake. He said he found himself wondering whether he was directing Gollum or the character was directing him. The remarks describe his personal experience; they do not establish a broader or clinical effect.

Serkis first began playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films. For the new project, he is taking on both the acting and directing roles. The film is scheduled to open in theaters on December 17, 2027.

Serkis has said that actors can be changed by the characters they play and that decompressing from a role can take time. He described adapting to a character as involving the body and mind, and said he does not expect Gollum to leave him entirely. In the new film, revisiting the character means returning to a part he has carried for more than two decades while also overseeing the production.

The role made extensive use of performance capture, which combines an actor’s...