Andy Serkis Draws A Line On The Diversity Debate Surrounding ‘The Hunt For Gollum’
Middle-earth is heading back to the big screen for the first time since Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy wrapped over a decade ago, and fans have been closely tracking every casting reveal for ‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum.’ Andy Serkis is both directing the film and reprising his motion capture role as Gollum, with Peter Jackson producing and a cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan and Leo Woodall, alongside Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen returning as Frodo Baggins and Gandalf. The project is currently shooting in New Zealand ahead of its theatrical run.
Lee Pace is also back as Thranduil from ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, while Jamie Dornan steps into the role of Strider, previously played by Viggo Mortensen. It’s a reunion stacked with familiar faces, but it’s also reignited an old conversation about who gets cast in Tolkien’s world. Fans have pointed out that the announced lineup for ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ is entirely white, a notable contrast to Amazon’s ‘The Rings of Power,’ which introduced the franchise’s first Black Elves and Dwarves.
That contrast is exactly what Serkis was pushed on this week. The BBC directly asked the actor and filmmaker about the lack of diversity in the franchise and why ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ has so far only revealed white actors for its main roles. Serkis did not dodge the question, acknowledging the criticism head on rather than brushing past it.
“Yes, there have been criticisms,” he told BBC News, of the lack of diversity in Tolkien’s world. From there, Serkis explained his reasoning, pointing to Tolkien’s own influences to justify the Shire’s homogenous feel and suggesting the isolated, insular nature of the hobbits themselves plays into it. He made clear that any future diversity in the cast will come from what serves the story, not from an effort to check boxes.
The comments carry extra weight given Serkis’s own history. The actor has been an outspoken advocate for equality throughout his career, and has previously said that being one of the few white actors on the set of ‘Black Panther’ gave him a deeper personal understanding of what it feels like to be an ethnic minority within an industry. That context has made his stance on ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ cast feel more complicated to some fans than a simple dismissal of the criticism.
The broader debate over race in Middle-earth long predates this film. Elon Musk publicly criticized ‘The Rings of Power’ in 2022, writing that Tolkien was turning in his grave, while original trilogy stars later posed for photos wearing elf ears in a range of skin tones with the caption ‘You Are All Welcome Here’ in support of the show’s diverse cast. Peter Jackson’s original trilogy faced similar accusations over the years, with critics arguing its heroes leaned heavily white while its villains relied on darker skinned stereotypes.
Serkis is currently doing UK press rounds to promote the theatrical release of ‘Animal Farm,’ and used the moment to also confirm he will not be directing Stephen Colbert’s separate ‘Lord of the Rings’ project, ‘Shadow of the Past’. ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ remains on track for a December 2027 release, giving this latest round of casting debate plenty of time to keep simmering before anyone sees the finished film.
Where do you land on Serkis’s approach, does sticking closer to Tolkien’s original vision make sense for this story, or should ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ have followed ‘The Rings of Power’ toward a more diverse Middle-earth?
