Watch: Andy Serkis Brings Back His Gollum Voice to Mock Vladimir Putin
British filmmaker Andy Serkis revived one of his favorite party tricks — playing his character Gollum from The Lord of the Rings movies to parody world leaders — during an appearance on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, using the famous voice to invoke Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
On Wednesday’s show, Serkis was discussing his recent audio book narration of J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous literary trilogy when he briefly slipped into Gollum’s voice to play Putin.
“We wants it. We needs it. We must have Kiev,” the actor said, before switching to Gollum’s sweeter alter-ego, Sméagol. “No, precious. They’re going to impose sanctions.”
“Sanctions? Sanctions, my precious,” he replied as Gollum. “If they do anything, we’re going to give them shit back.”
Watch below:
Colbert gave Serkis a standing ovation for his performance. The actor was promoting his latest movie, The Batman, in which he plays Alfred Pennyworth.
This is not the first time that Serkis has used Gollum to parody a political leader. The actor played then-Prime Minister Theresa May as Gollum during the height of the Brexit debate.
Watch below:
During a 2017 appearance on The Late Show, Serkis used the party trick to read from then-President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at
