It feels like there was life before and life after.
I can remember the first time I saw Gollum.
Its almost like an animal instinct; he can sense it.
Credit: New Line; Inset: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
It was absolutely extraordinary.
You dont know, you could never know.
That thought could be conveyed through the combination of my performance and what they were doing at Weta Digital.
Harper Collins
I could sense that thought.
I could feel that was exactly as I played it.
That was incredibly gratifying.
Then I remember seeingThe Two Towersfor the first time.
It was in New York, I was with Miranda Otto, Bernard Hill and Karl Urban.
It was mind blowing.
I knew every single frame.
I sensed that my life was never going to be the same again.
I supposed that was true for everyone who shared inThe Lord of the Rings.
The actors, the crew, everyone.
None of us really knew what we were letting ourselves in for.
And we went through so much together.
That counts tenfold forThe Lord of the Rings.
You dont go to work; youre living and breathing it.
Nevertheless, it certainly wasnt the journey I was expecting for a second.
Not for a second.
Adding together bothThe Lord of the RingsandThe Hobbit, I have celebrated seven different birthdays in New Zealand.
The first one was literally only days after I arrived.
We were up at Ruapehu, shooting Mount Doom.
That was pretty cool.
We were staying at the Powderhorn, which looked like an alpine chalet.
They made me a cake.
That was on an Easter Sunday.
Other ones came and went, in so many beautiful places.
I still feel deeply connected to New Zealand.
The beauty there is almost overwhelming.
I was very into the outdoor life, walking, hiking and kayaking whenever I could.
The whole experience was very spiritual.
That country, root and branch, mountain and valley, is the soul of the films.
Moreover, I also cant express how honest and pop fire up people are.
How much they made us part of their community and gave us such a good time.
I made so many great friends.
In the end, though, all roads lead back to Pete.
And Fran and Philippa, of course.
Pete is the most fearless director Ive ever met.
He has shared so much with me, taught me so much.
Thats what it always felt like.
We were shooting these personal little indie films.
These extraordinary films are an expression of who a person is.
It was then, and for the next decade, and hopefully always will be just that…
Andy Serkis
