DJ FilmsAndy Serkis is packing his bags for Middle-earth.
The actor most famous for playing Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy tells E! News that production is expected to get rolling—and soon—on The Hobbit.
"It's going to happen," said Serkis of the highly anticipated two-part prequel in which he'll costar as the subterranean slimeball. "I think it's due to start shooting in May. It's going be exciting, especially working with [new director] Guillermo del Toro, who's fantastic."
Serkis was on hand at the Tribeca Film Festival for the North American premiere of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, in which he stars as '70s English punk icon Ian Dury, whose hit song provides the film's title.
"It's nice to wear pants again," the 46-year-old actor joked when asked how he feels to be appearing in the flesh this time. "But the thing is I never draw distinctions between acting in a live-action situation to live in a performance capture situation...I'll invest equally as much in a character where I'm completely hidden as I would with someone like Ian."
And to say Serkis really embraced the Method to play Dury would be an understatement.
"He was entirely hairless so I had to have my entire body waxed, which is the most painful thing I've ever done in my life," the actor admits. "It was verging on torture…welts were appearing and I was screaming."
Let's just hope they didn't hurt his precious.
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