Early this morning, actor and all around great guy Andy Serkis launched into what is to be a 12-hour-long marathon reading of JRR Tolkien’s
The Hobbit — and it’s all for a very good cause.Thanks to what was at the time groundbreaking CGI work, fans may not exactly
recognize Serkis from his role in the movie adaptation (as well as the subsequent
Lord of the Rings saga) but they will know him. Serkis, afterall, had one of the most quotable lines in the entire franchise when he hissed “My precious!” while clutching one of the fabled golden rings.Serkis’ Gollum (née Smeagol) had a big role in
The Hobbit, but his roles, plural, are about to multiply. For the live reading Serkis will be doing his best to give a voice to every single character Tolkien created for the tale, from Galadriel to Saruman.[video_embed id='5974881866001']RELATED: Andy Serkis defendeds Scarlett Johansson after 'Rub & Tug' controversy[/video_embed]"I'm going to be doing all of them," the actor told UK outlet
Sky News. "It's interesting because there are the iconic versions played by so many great actors over the years so I'm going to do my own interpretation. Some of them might be closer to the ones I've been involved in, but, yes, I'm going to be doing all of the voices of all the great characters, like the trolls and the orcs and all of those," he said.The Hobbitathon, as Serikis has dubbed his reading, is part of a GoFundMe project to raise money for a pair of charities that mean a lot to the actor. "While times are tough, I want to take you on one of the greatest fantasy adventures ever written, a 12-hour armchair marathon across Middle Earth whilst raising money for two amazing charities which are doing extraordinary work right now to help those most in need in the UK: Best Beginnings and NHS Charities Together," wrote Serkis on his fundraising page. He’s aiming to raise a total of £250,000 (and he’s
almost there).Check out the
live read here — it is by far the best way we can think of to kill 12 hours of lockdown today.
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