Andy Serkis channels his Lord of the Rings character, Gollum, to mock Russian president Vladimir Putin. The famous voice artist is known for his motion-capture performances across a variety of blockbusters, with his big breakout coming in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy as Sméagol, a Stoorish Hobbit whose possession of the Ring for five centuries slowly poisons his mind and turns him into a wretched creature known as Gollum. After appearing briefly in the prologue to Fellowship of the Ring, Gollum returned for Two Towers and Return of the King to accompany Frodo and Sam on their journey to Mordor.
Another one of Serkis' most-acclaimed motion capture performances came in the new Planet of the Apes trilogy as Caesar, a highly-intelligent chimpanzee who leads a tribe of enhanced apes. The last two films in the trilogy, 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes, were directed by Matt Reeves. Now, Serkis has reteamed with the filmmaker on The Batman, in which he plays Bruce Wayne's (Robert Pattinson) loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Though as Serkis makes the rounds for the highly-anticipated blockbuster, he can't help but sink back into his glory days as Gollum.
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (the host being a well-known Lord of the Rings super-fan), Serkis brought Gollum back to life yet again. The actor was in the midst of demonstrating his wide range of voices which he provided for LOTR's audiobooks and when it came to Gollum, Serkis took the opportunity to mock Putin, imagining if the Russian president had the same internal monologue as Gollum and Sméagol when weighing the pros and cons and invading Ukraine. Read what Serkis had to say below, or listen to the segment from The Late Show starting at the 3:30 mark:
Gollum was on this side and Sméagol was on this side. And he would say things like, "We wants it. We needs it. We must have Kyiv! No Precious, they’re to impose sanctions! Sanctions? Sanctions, my Precious? If they do anything, we’re going to give them shit back."
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Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, several countries have imposed harsh economic sanctions against Russia for its unprovoked act of aggression. Hollywood has also gotten heavily involved in the growing boycott of Russia. One of the economic sanctions leveled against the country is that they won't get to see The Batman in theaters, as Colbert points out during Serkis' appearance: "It’s one of the sanctions being leveled against Russia that they don’t get this movie. Very powerful."
Earlier in the week, Warner Bros. halted the release of The Batman in Russia. This is in addition to Disney, Sony, Paramount, and Universal pulling upcoming releases from the country. Though some have slammed these actions as futile, the overwhelming majority of movies shown in Russia are from Hollywood, so the boycott is just as good of a financial tool as any to help bring an end to the conflict. Albeit through his Lord of the Rings character, Serkis' outspokenness on this issue should help bring attention to the cause.
Source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
