Andy Serkis knows he won't get through a live, continuous reading of the entirety of "The Hobbit" without messing up here and there.
Known for his portrayal of Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, he's taking this time at home to help support charities offering help during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
The actor and director is reading all of the J.R.R. Tolkien book on Friday, May 8, 2020, to help support two charities -- NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings.
"There will be fluffs all over the place. I can't imagine going through ten hours of reading this book without fluffing lines, fluffling words here and there. You know, it's just an impossibility," he says.
"The Hobbitathon" kicked-off Friday morning at 5 a.m. Eastern and a link to the live reading was posted on the GoFundMe page early in the morning.
Serkis says he won't go hungry throughout the event.
"It's The Hobbitathon live. So that's going to have to include some pit stops along the way. But, you know, like all good hobbits, they who like food and breakfasts and all that kind of thing. I might even be munching my way through some bits. Who knows? Or drinking."
He's said he prepared by going over pages from the novel in order to get a feel for all the different characters and refresh his knowledge.
But what you won't hear him do is try to sound like the actors from the movies that Peter Jackson and himself (as second unit) directed.
"I'm not gonna do sort of impersonations of Ian McKellen going 'You shall not pass.' I'm not going to do that. But it's tempting. But I'm not going to do that, I'm going to sort of, you know, use them as a steer, but not do impersonations of my fellow actors. But certainly I'm going to embody the characters a little you know."
