Lord Of The Rings Star Andy Serkis Addresses Movies’ Lack Of Diversity

Andy Serkis has responded to the discourse surrounding the lack of diversity in the Lord Of The Rings movies.

The British actor famously provided the voice and motion-capture performance for Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings films, before reprising the role in the Hobbit trilogy.

He is also directing a new film in the franchise, The Hunt For Gollum, set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.

During a new interview with BBC News, it was pointed out to him just how predominantly white the casts of the previous Lord Of The Rings films have been, while his own Middle Earth film’s confirmed cast so far includes only white actors.

Asked why he thinks Lord Of The Rings hasn’t embraced a more diverse approach to casting, Andy claimed: “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, before trailing off.

He noted that the film’s central characters are “not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in”.

Acknowledging past “criticisms” of this, Andy added: “This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that.

“But 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.”

One Lord Of The Rings adaptation that has been more diverse in its casting is the Amazon Prime Video prequel series The Rings Of Power.

Cast member Sir Lenny Henry told The Times in 2022: “That’s to do with it being the 21st century; people want to see themselves.”

He stated: “Of course, if you go back, there’s going to be that thing that prevails because the books don’t say… although some of the characters are described as hard-skinned and darker in complexion… but that was then, this is now and we’re telling the story now.”