This comes to us late, but NarniaFans learned today that Andy Serkis, best known for playing the duplicitous Gollum in the Lord of the Rings, will be voicing the diabolical Screwtape in Focus on the Family Radio Theater’s upcoming adaptation of CS Lewis’s classic, The Screwtape Letters.
Focus on the Family’s radio theater already garnered positive reviews for their productions of the Chronicles of Narnia series and Adventures in Odyssey. As is evident by the choice of Serkis as Gollum, they only choose top-notch performers for the roles ( notably Alan Young , Corey Burton and Hal Smith in Adventures in Odyssey) hearkening back to the old days of Orson Welles on the Mercury Theater of the Air.
Serkis recieved many accolades for his performance as Gollum in Lord of the Rings, and many fans even wanted him to receive the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in his role. Since then he has had many major film roles, including doing the motion capture for Kong in Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong. Chances are, he is going to give listeners another stellar performance as he gave in LOTR.
Along with Serkis, the cast for the production includes Geoffrey Palmer ( Tomorrow Never Dies), Laura Michelle Kelly ( Sweeney Todd), and Eileen Page ( The Secet Garden). The production is expected to release sometime in October.
Now one question remains. In light of this news, how are the filmakers for the oft talked about Screwtape Letters movie going to top this cast? They will certainly have their work cut out for them.
Hmmm… I thought for sure that you had reported on this some time back, but I guess it was NarniaWeb.com.
On WhitsEndBlog.org there is a video podcast (from back in April) with a very brief section near the end about The Screwtape letters. There is even a few seconds of Serkis performing in the studio. http://whitsendblog.org/2009/04/new-video-podcast-watch-sound-effects-created-see-a-live-show-preview-learn-secrets-of-the-upcoming-shows/
The Radio Theater production of The Screwtape Letters is due out in October.
Yeah, this is the first we’ve written about this. 🙂 Thanks for the link, by the way. It’s awesome!
Andy will be terrific. but making a compelling movie is different, requiring a different skill set for the screen
Indeed… making a film version of The Screwtape Letters seems a challenge well worth taking. I spoke with David Melvin about it for some time, last summer, and we both agree that it will make for a very compelling film. I’m looking forward to production finally ramping up on it sometime soon.
Andy Serkis + a strange character = great performance! Boy, I bet it will be pretty good; Andy can do some very interesting things with his voice, just listen to Gollum! “Myyyy prrreccccioussss!”
Hmmmm . . . not sure if this went through the first time. But visit my blog at chriskou.com to see a 7 minute video preview of the Radio Theatre Screwtape Letters audio drama. So far, it’s the only place you’ll find it.
Great news!! Andy is a gifted actor, voice and otherwise. Focus is fortunate to have contracted him for the project!