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Believe it or not, there was an Oscar buzz around Andy Serkis’ Gollum role inThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Serkis played the voice and motion capture for the role. He initially had doubts about the role as he was unsure whether the mo-cap performance would work in the film. However, Peter Jackson believed it to be a relevant acting performance.
Jackson compared it to John Hurt’s performance inThe Elephant Man, a role that won Hurt a Best Actor nomination. Hurt had to wear heavy prosthetic makeup in the role and never showed his face, which prompted the director to believe that Serkis was eligible for an Oscar. However, he never received the recognition forThe Lord of the Rings.
Peter Jackson believed Andy Serkis would win the Oscar after John Hurt’s nomination
Andy Serkisbrought moral and philosophical depth to Gollum and made the villain of Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringsfilms a timeless character. Gollum, despite his limited screen time, became a pop culture sensation, thanks toSerkis’ mo-cap performance and voice. Sadly, he did not get the due recognition for the role.
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Peter Jacksonbelieved that Serkis was eligible for a Best Supporting Actor nod forThe Fellowship of the Ring. There was a buzz about the potential nomination at the time. When asked about Gollum’s Oscar buzz during an interview with EW, Jackson shared that Serkis totally deserved the nod and added that Serkis achieved a relevant acting performance in the mo-cap suit.
He compared Serkis’ performance to that ofJohn HurtinThe Elephant Man, where he played John Merrick who suffered from severe physical deformity. Jackson shared that Hurt gave an emotional performance despite being buried under the prosthetic makeup. He shared that Serkis too did the same for Gollum, which makes him eligible for an Oscar. Jackson shared withEW:
To be honest, I think that what Andy has ultimately achieved with Gollum is as relevant an acting performance as The Elephant Man with John Hurt. Hurt’s buried beneath inches of rubber, but he has to use his acting skills to push this prosthetic around and fuel the character. Andy is really doing the same thing. He’s the driver manipulating this pixilated skin that we see in the film.
Hurt went on to get nominated for Best Actor Oscar for his role inThe Elephant Man. However, there was criticism about the film not getting recognized for the makeup effects. It prompted the Academy to introduce the Best Makeup Oscar the following year.
Serkis did not receive an Oscar nod despite the firstLOTRfilm being nominated for thirteen categories. The film won for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects.
Andy Serkis should receive an honorary Oscar for his work
Andy Serkis can be considered one of the pioneers in acting with motion sensors on his body. Besides Gollum, he also played Caesar in thePlanet of the Apestrilogy and the titular character in 2005’sKing Kong. His experience in the field prompted him to start his own London-based mo-cap studio called Imaginarium.
We Want Andy Serkis’ New Lord of the Rings Movie to Rectify One Painful Mistake Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy Made With Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, If He Returns
In the 2014 kaiju filmGodzilla, he providedhis expertise as a Performance Capture Consultantunder Imaginarium. Sadly, neither his acting performance nor his role as a consultant has been recognized with an Academy Award. Fans might agree that Serkis deserves an honorary Oscar for his contributions to Mo-cap.
Beyond acting, Serkis has also tried his hands at filmmaking. He served as the director ofMowgli: Legend of the Junglein which he also did mo-cap for the role of Baloo. He is also the director of Tom Hardy’sVenom: Let There Be Carnage. He will soon helm theLOTRfilm,The Hunt for Gollum.
The Lord of the Ringstrilogy is now available for streaming on Max.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3018
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
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Andy SerkisJohn HurtPeter JacksonThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
