Andy Serkis reads ‘The Hobbit’ in character as Gollum

Well, isn't that precious. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of J. R. R. Tolkien's landmark fantasy novel "The Hobbit," actor Andy Serkis -- who played the slimy and insane Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" films and reprises that role in the upcoming "Hobbit" movies -- got into character for a special live reading from the classic book.

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Last week, London's Fulham Palace Gardens sat in for Middle Earth at an event celebrating the Tolkien's work. Guests were served food in a Hobbit-style tent and enjoyed a selected reading from "The Hobbit" performed live by Serkis. The passage was from the character's memorable first appearance, in which the cave-dwelling creature makes a wager with the wayward Bilbo Baggins. A section of this scene can be seen in the latest trailer for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

See Andy Serkis play Gollum in last week's live reading below.

Following the reading, Serkis addressed some of the difficulties he had getting back into the now-famous character in the brief interview with ITN's "Showbiz 411."

"Part of the difficulty of doing "The Hobbit" twelve years later was kind of reclaiming [Gollum]," Serkis said. "I've heard so many impersonations of him and people have asked me to do so many telephone messages for them ... It all sounded right but I just had to reconnect to it."

It sounded good to us! Granted, Serkis wasn't writhing around on the ground while wearing a performance-capture suit, but the essence of the character was there.

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Rediscovering Gollum wasn't the only thing Serkis had to worry about this go around. The actor pulled double duty on Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" trilogy, serving as a second unit director on the films in addition to playing the role of Gollum.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" arrives in theatres on Dec. 14, and its sequels "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" are set for release on Dec. 13, 2013 and July 18, 2014, respectively.