He is one of cinema’s greatest villains: 23 years ago he thrilled millions of viewers

We are in 2002. A year earlier, the first part of Peter Jackson’s trilogy, adapted from JRR Tolkien’s immortal work, had already been unanimously praised by audiences, and The Lord of the Rings is now comfortably installed in the cinematic pop culture landscape. But The Two Towers, the second opus of the saga, will hit even harder and offer the public a spectacle the likes of which they have never witnessed.

• For almost 50 years, he was the greatest villain in the history of cinema: from his first appearance on the screen he became a legend.

Meeting at Emyn Muil

Frodo and Sam, after leaving the Fellowship alone for the terrible path that leads them away from Mordor, make a well-deserved stop in the heart of Emin Muil, a veritable maze of jagged rocks and sheer cliffs. While they apparently sleep peacefully under the moonlight at the foot of a steep wall, a snarling shadow creeps menacingly in their direction, muttering insults to them:

“Thieves! Dirty thieves, yes dirty little thieves. Where is he, where is he? They have stolen from us, my dear.”

After successfully neutralizing him, the two hobbits take the time to get to know their assailant better, and then discover a man named Gollum. A mysterious creature that has roamed the darkest corners of Middle-earth for centuries with one obsession: the One Ring.

An antagonist like no other

We could write entire theses (and probably already have) on the complexity and richness of this antagonist like no other, meticulously crafted by the genius of JRR Tolkien. His unsettling duality, visceral attachment to the Ring, and his dark past make him an absolutely extraordinary character, whether unfolding between the pages of a book or on screen.

But in the cinema, its realism and depth are especially unusual for an artist: the wonderful Andy Serkis.

Originally hired to lend his voice to Gollum, just three weeks into recording, he eventually accompanied the actors on set and voiced them with a physical interpretation of the character, achieving a real acting performance that Weta’s digital artists successfully dressed digitally. Reviving a character known to us.

“You create psychology, his past, his emotions…”

Truly revolutionary in the field of motion capture (now often used in cinema, but which at the time was still in its infancy), Andy Serkis was able to understand very early on the potential of this incredible technology, realizing that he could interpret Gollum in the same way. Passion and commitment as if they were on a theater stage.

“It’s exactly the same process as a traditionally cast character in film, television or theater.”In 2017, he trusted our microphone to capture the performance.

You play this role, you create the psychology of the character, the background, their physical characteristics, their emotions. (…) One of the most important parts of the process is learning to connect with the avatar, the character.

“Like putting on a costume or putting on makeup.”

“So on set, you’re looking at a screen, the equivalent of putting on a costume or putting on make-up in a live-action film. (…) You look in the mirror and start choosing which costume suits the character. You do the same thing in performance capture when you start working with your avatar. You say to yourself, “If I stand straighter, the character looks stronger. If I bend a little, it makes me more vulnerable…” and you see the result right on the screen. It is this feedback that helps you create a character.”

Andy Serkis took advantage of all the still unknown potential of capturing the performance, bringing Gollum to life in a disturbing way, brilliantly restoring his dual personality and his alter ego, sometimes evil and disturbing, sometimes unhappy and lovable, managing to create one of the most destabilizing villains in cinema.

(Re)discover the ‘Deux Tours’ trailer…