The British actor-filmmaker addressed criticism around the lack of diversity in his 'Lord of the Rings' film, which currently stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Leo Woodall, Kate Winslet and Jamie Dornan.
, which boasts Peter Jackson as a producer as well as a star-studded cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan and Leo Woodall.
Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen will be reprising their beloved roles as Frodo Baggins and Gandalf, respectively, from Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy.
'Robert Richardson: The White Devil' Is a "Detective" Doc Deep Dive Into the Cinematographer's Mind and Heartthis week about what he has in store for the latest adaptation of Tolkien’s work, currently slated for release in December 2027. He began by explaining that the story “sits absolutely betweentrilogies, and books in fact.
” He said: “It is very much a deep dive into the psychology and history of Gollum before he became Gollum, but also with a very burning question from Gandalf about what the potential origin of this ring that Bilbo Baggins has is. ” “The hunt takes place in two different dimensions really and that’s about as far as I can say at the moment,” he adds.
: “I think that that post has been taken, put it that way,” Serkis says.
“That’s going to be a fascinating story too. I know it’s something that Stephen’s very, very excited about being part of. ”cast, which so far only consists of white actors, though more major announcements are expected in the coming months.
The BBC notes that Serkis has been a campaigner for equality across his decades-spanning career, and included mention of his saying in 2018 that being one of the few white actors on theset gave him a more personal understanding of what it feels like to be an ethnic minority in the industry.films.
“Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology, there’s a lot of that feeling. The Shire feels very, very much like a very, a very white, you know…,” says Serkis, before saying: “They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in. ” “Yes, there have been criticisms,” he says of the lack of diversity in Tolkien’s world.
“This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that. But we don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s only where relevant basically. ”‘Robert Richardson: The White Devil’ Is a “Detective” Doc Deep Dive Into the Cinematographer’s Mind and HeartThe Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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