Gollum's got his eye on a new precious

Tuesday, December 31, 2002 – Print Edition, Page R2


Los Angeles -- If an actor can alter his face with makeup and still get nominated for awards, why can't someone who alters his appearance with digital pixels?

That's the argument of Andy Serkis, who's winning praise for his work in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as the embittered creature Gollum.

Unlike other digitally rendered creatures like Yoda in Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones or Dobby the house elf in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gollum was far more involving physically for the actor behind the voice.

New Line Cinema is pushing his performance for acting-award consideration, saying every sick smile of Gollum's, every scampering movement, was created by the actor and then recreated digitally.

"It's like applying makeup after the fact, only the overlay isn't with latex before the performance. It's after the performance with computers," Serkis told The Associated Press recently.

He drew parallels between his role and Nicole Kidman's recent Golden Globe-nominated work beneath prosthetic makeup in The Hours, and John Hurt's Oscar-nominated turn in a disfiguring mask for 1980's The Elephant Man.

Serkis, who's also appeared in the films 24 Hour Party People and Topsy-Turvy, physically acted each scene in The Two Towers alongside his Hobbit co-stars, recreating each motion and facial gesture while wearing a body suit that monitored his muscle movements.

"I think however this is received, it has to be judged as a performance. The physicality was driven by an actor," said Serkis, adding that his real face will be seen in a flashback next year in the final film of the trilogy, The Return of the King.



What do you people think...should it be so?