Andy Serkis was almost kicked off the Lord of the Rings set. During the filming of the first scenes, the crew had no idea what he was doing there and asked him to leave so they could shoot the next scene.
As reported by Popverse at C2E2 2025, Serkis took the audience on a nostalgic journey nearly 25 years back, recalling his first on-set appearance in the now-iconic motion capture suit that brought Gollum to life.
"Film is all shot out of order, and my first scene was scene 765 of film 3, and I remember crawling onto the set, and sort of becoming Gollum with my [thin] lycra suit on, and then getting into character. And then Pete Jackson laughing at me. All the crew were kind of going, ‘Who is that guy and what the hell is he doing here? Can you get him out of shot because we want to shoot here.’ I don’t think anybody really knew what I was doing there on the very first day," he recalled.
Serkis reflected on how, after months of preparation, they finally shot the scene. He described it as a beautiful experience, but one that took an amusing turn when he noticed Peter Jackson standing in front of him, giggling like a child.
Serkis' portrayal of Gollum catapulted him to a whole new level, earning him widespread fame and recognition. His groundbreaking performance garnered numerous accolades, including the Empire Award for Best British Actor, the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, which he shared with the ensemble cast. Yet, despite these prestigious honors, the absence of an Academy Award nomination for his role as Gollum remains a notable point of contention.
