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Andy Serkis Is Reading The Hobbit For 12 Hours Straight

Andy Serkis Is Reading The Hobbit For 12 Hours Straight

The actor famously played Gollum in the iconic fantasy series

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Andy Serkis is doing a live reading of The Hobbit to raise money for charity.

At a time when we could all do with a good pick-me-up, the British actor, who played Gollum in the film, is taking on the mammoth 'Hobbitathon' for fans of the iconic fantasy novel.

For 12 hours straight from 10am (GMT) today (8 May), the 56-year-old is reading the book from cover to cover - with no breaks.

He only asks that listeners who are able to offer a small donation to support the work being carried out by two charities very close to his heart.

These are NHS Charities Together, which offers support to NHS staff and volunteers who are working tirelessly to care for Covid-19 patients, and Best Beginnings, which supports parents during pregnancy and the early stages of parenthood.

All of the money raised will be shared equally between them both.

Andy Serkis will be reading The Hobbit for fans to help raise money for charity.
PA

Speaking to LADbible about the event, the Lord of The Rings star said he just wants to try and bring a little joy to fans who are staying at home during lockdown.

He said: "All the way through this terrible time, I've wanted to find away of connecting meaningfully, and to offer something up to the community which would help take them out of this lockdown nightmare.

"I really genuinely feel for those of us who cannot open a window or go out onto a balcony or get out of their environment.

"People are going through so many different versions of lockdown: some people are coping quite well, some people are suffering terribly with loss, some people are suffering from depression. The range of the spectrum is immense.

"But I wanted to do something that would bring people together and take them out of it, take them on an adventure, a big, epic journey across a wonderful, imaginative landscape for a few hours.

"And in the same way Bilbo Baggins discovers something about himself on this journey, it speaks to me because everybody is discovering things about themselves through this pandemic. And it just came together as an idea that this might be a good parable for the moment."

And when asked how much he wanted to make for his charities, Andy said he just had one goal in mind.

Joking, he said: "I wanna beat Captain Tom! I've gotta beat him! No, of course not, that would be impossible. He's a living legend, the man of the moment. He's extraordinary.

"I'd like to think we could make a healthy amount. But I am aware that people have been donating generously to people like Captain Tom.

"Primarily, I wanted to do this as a way of escaping for people and to applaud, in some way, what everyone is doing."

Though, in the first 24 hours, he's already raised more than £100,000, which means fans will be treated to 'a special surprise later in our journey'.

If you are able to and wish to make a donation to the cause, you can do so by visiting Andy's GoFundMe page, here. The live-stream link will be posted on the page this morning.

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Topics: TV and Film, Interesting, UK Entertainment, US Entertainment