Andy Serkis Joins Tintin
Voice of Gollum, King Kong Cast in Spielberg, Jackson Movies
Actor Andy Serkis, best known for portraying Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has been cast in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's Tintin trilogy.
Andy Serkis, the British actor who provided the voice and body for motion-captured characters in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, has joined the cast of DreamWorks' upcoming motion capture trilogy Tintin.
Jackson and über-director Steven Spielberg are helming two movies for the trilogy, which is based on the beloved comic strip by Georges "Hergé" Remi (1907 - 1983). The series follows the titular character, a Belgian journalist who has adventures all over the world, accompanied by his faithful white Fox terrier, Milou. Tintin is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, published in over 50 languages and has sold more than 200 million copies of the books to date
DreamWorks has not released many details on the planned trilogy, but it is known both Spielberg and Jackson will direct one film each and, if they cannot find a third director, will helm the third film together.
Bringing Tintin to the silver screen has been a 25-year struggle for Spielberg, ever since he bought an option on the character in 1983, shortly before Remi's death. DreamWorks finally bought the rights to Tintin in 2002, after Spielberg convinced Hergé's estate that he would direct at least one of the movies.
According to Variety, DreamWorks has not announced which character Serkis will be playing, but that he won't be playing the title character. Rumour has it that Serkis will portray Tintin's best (human) friend, the sarcastic, whiskey-swilling Captain Archibald Haddock.
Serkis Portrayed Gollum and King Kong for Peter Jackson
Serkis has a long history of working in motion capture. He was originally cast to voice the role of Gollum in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but Jackson was so impressed with his acting that Serkis not only did the motion-capture work, but also stood in for Gollum in scenes where the doomed hobbit interacted with his co-stars. Jackson also redesigned the character, between production of Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, to make it look more like Serkis. Serkis eventually appeared on screen as Smeagol/Gollum in the first five minutes of Return of the King.
Jackson later tapped Serkis to portray the titular ape in his 2005 adaptation of King Kong. This time, the actor not only provided the motion-capture for Kong, but also played another character, ship's cook Lumpy.
Serkis' casting in Tintin caps a vary good year for the British actor, since he is also up for a Golden Globe for his role as Ian Brady in the television movie Longford.
Production on the Tintin trilogy is scheduled to begin in September of 2008.
Fun Fact: There are several stories about the inspirations for Tintin and Milou. Remi's former girlfriend, Marie-Louise Van Cutsem, whose nick-name was "Milou," is widely believed to have inspired the name of Tintin's faithful Fox terrier, who was bizarrely rechristened Snowy for the English translations.
Another story concerns Robert Sexé, a writer/photographer/adventurer whose exploits were widely written about in the Belgian popular press during the 1920's. Sexé apparently looked very similar to Hergé's depiction of Tintin. Not only that, Sexé would regularly journey around the world, writing popular accounts of his adventures.
Sexé was also very good friends with motorcycle enthusiast and Grand Prix champion René Milhoux, who was an invaluable source of information about world traveling and motorcycles. Given this collection of facts, it's not surprising that Hergé, having read Sexé's accounts, would have memorialized the adventurer and his friend Milhoux as Tintin and his best friend, Milou.
