SerpApi.Org
The latest entry in the fantasy franchise has so far cast Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Lee Pace in new roles.
Key Points
- Andy Serkis is responding to the lack of diversity in the announced cast of his upcoming Lord of the Rings film, The Hunt for Gollum.
- Serkis noted to the BBC that source author J.R.R. Tolkien was “influenced a lot by Norse mythology.”
- “I don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film,” he explained.
Andy Serkis’ upcoming Lord of the Rings film has so far an all-white cast. But, he surmises, maybe that’s what Tolkien had in mind?
The Hunt for Gollum, the latest entry in the franchise kicked off by Peter Jackson and based on the source material by J.R.R. Tolkien, is slowly building an arsenal of some of the greatest actors working today. But there’s one thing they all seem to have in common.
When the subject of the film’s lack of diversity was put to Serkis, who directed, co-produced, and will star in The Hunt for Gollum, the Animal Farm star noted, “Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology, there’s a lot of that feeling.”
“The Shire feels very, very much like a very, a very white, you know…” he continued during an interview published on Monday by the BBC. “They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in.”
Undaunted, Serkis continued: “Yes, there have been criticisms,” he said, even adding that his new addition to the franchise “is somewhat acknowledging that.”
But acknowledging a diversity criticism is not the same as incorporating a diversity criticism. “I don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film,” Serkis said. “So, it’s where relevant basically.”
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The Hunt for Gollum is a standalone feature centered on the enigmatic titular character, portrayed by Serkis in Jackson’s Oscar-winning film trilogy. It’s a sequel to the events of both The Hobbit and the Prime Video series The Rings of Power.
But it isn’t quite a prequel to the LOTR films, however, as several key scenes from the extended Tolkien mythos pertaining to Gollum’s journey from innocent, Hobbit-like Stoor to shifty and tortured ring-seeker occur shortly after the beginning scenes of The Fellowship of the Ring.
In fairness to Serkis, criticisms of this kind have been directed at virtually every iteration of Lord of the Rings, from Tolkien’s books to Jackson’s films. The Rings of Power is one notable exception, as the cast of the streaming prequel features significant diversity across racial and gender lines.
The full cast of The Hunt for Gollum has not yet been released. But every new cast member and actor returning from the Jackson trilogy is white.
So far, the cast includes returning players Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, and of course, Serkis. New names include Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall, Jamie Dornan, and Lee Pace.
The pivotal player of Aragorn is one potential site for a casting shake-up, as Serkis announced in April that he intends to recast Viggo Mortensen, who played the warrior in the trilogy. “I don’t know what’s out there at the moment, but I know there’s a lot of speculation,” he said at the time, “but let’s just say we are recasting the role and we are on the way to finding someone.”
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
