Serkis reveals his Hobbit relief

28 October 2010

Andy Serkis is delighted that the dispute over the filming of The Hobbit has been resolved.

The Lord Of The Rings star, speaking at the BFI London Film Festival Awards, said the films were "meant" to be shot in New Zealand.

The actor, who shot to fame as Gollum in Lord Of The Rings, said: "I'm delighted. It's where it should be".

He said: "It's where it was meant to be and a lot of the people wanted to see those stories being made and told in that place and it would have been a shame to have done it anywhere else."

He added: "The film industry in New Zealand has really burgeoned through that process of making Lord Of The Rings and (director) Peter Jackson was very much at the front of that and everyone involved with the production would have been very upset to have seen it set anywhere else. So I'm thrilled, and relieved and delighted."

It was announced this week, following two days of crisis talks with Hollywood studio executives, that the Hobbit films would be made in New Zealand as originally planned.

Senior executives from Warner Bros and New Line Cinema won an agreement for a change in labour law and bigger tax breaks to keep the project in New Zealand after a dispute over pay and conditions for actors threw the production into turmoil.

Andy was presenting the Best Newcomer award, which went to first-time director Clio Bernard, at the ceremony.