London, Oct 14 (PTI) Actor Andy Serkis has revealed henearly turned down the iconic role of Gollum from the "Lord ofthe Rings" films.
The 53-year-old actor said he did not want to just voiceact a character, reported The Guardian newspaper.
"When I started doing 'Lord of the Rings', I liked thegamble. Originally, I heard it was going to be like doing avoice for a digital character, and I wasn't interested, butthen I met Peter Jackson and he said, 'We want an actor toplay the role, be on set and make decisions for thatcharacter'," Serkis said.
Since featuring in the hit Peter Jackson-directed filmfranchise, he has been Hollywood's most sought-after actor forroles powered by CGI (computer generated imagery).
Other blockbuster voice act roles to Serkis' credit are -the title part as the giant ape in "King Kong" and theintelligent chimpanzee Caesar in the "Planet of the Apes"trilogy.
The actor added he had an "epiphany" while playing KingKong.
"That was the epiphany because it was like: you can nowplay anything. Then, as the technology evolved and facialcapture came into play, and (it became) total performancecapture, not just motion, I realised how important it is as anactor's tool in the 21st century," he said.
Previously, Serkis said the idea of making movies withlive animals is "cruel" now that Hollywood has moved lightyears ahead in terms of technology. PTI RDSRDS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.