Director/actor Andy Serkis responded to the criticism that the LORD OF THE RINGS franchise suffers from lack of representation.
Serkis, who returns as Gollum in the upcoming LOTR: HUNT FOR GOLLUM as well as taking over the helm as director, defended the homogeneity of the cast as a reflection of the Scandinavian culture that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved LOTR novels.
“Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology; there’s a lot of that feeling,” Serkis told the 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,” he explained, referring to the hobbits who play a central part of LOTR’s Middle-earth.
The ANIMAL FARM director says HUNT FOR GOLLUM will address lack of diversity but added “we 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 only where relevant basically.”
Ian McKellen will reprise his role as Gandalf, Elijah Wood as Frodo and Lee Pace as Thranduil.
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Anya Taylor‑Joy, Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan and Leo Woodall, all new to the LOTR’s universe, were also announced as part of the cast.
Peter Jackson, who directed the original LOTR trilogy, serves as producer of the upcoming prequel, while Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, wrote the screenplay.
Serkis has yet to reveal too much detail of the movie, only saying that it “takes place in two different dimensions” and will “deep dive into the psychology and history of Gollum before he became Gollum, but also with a very burning question from Gandalf about what the potential origin of this ring that Bilbo Baggins has is.”
The Englishman shared his excitement reuniting with former cast members as filming begins.
“It couldn’t be better,” Serkis told Variety. “And it’s not just those guys who obviously I adore and love and have spent so many years working with, but the entire crew, practically from 25 years ago. So it’s great. And there are generations of their kids too. So it is a big family affair.”
Lindsey Weber, executive producer of Prime Video’s LOTR prequel THE RINGS OF POWER series, responded to criticism on the other side of the aisle for introducing the first black elf and dwarf into the series and that those casting choices didn’t stay true to Tolkien’s original Middle Earth.
“Tolkien is for everyone. His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together,” she said.
Will the new LORD OF THE RINGS feature any black elves or dwarves? We have yet to discover, but we can count on the movie to have a diverse cast of “fictional races” with the dwarves, elves and hobbits that LORD OF THE RINGS fans have grown to love.
LORD OF THE RINGS: HUNT FOR GOLLUM is set for release on Dec. 17, 2027.
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