Andy Serkis will give a continuous live reading of The Hobbit online, to raise money for charity.
The Gollum actor will read JRR Tolkien’s 1937 novel from start to finish with no breaks.
Serkis played the corrupted character, originally known as Smeagol, in the The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.
Money raised from the 56-year-old’s expected 10-12-hour performance will be split between NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings.
“So many of us are struggling in isolation during the lockdown,” he said.
“While times are tough, I want to take you on one of the greatest fantasy adventures ever written, a 12-hour armchair marathon across Middle Earth whilst raising money for two amazing charities which are doing extraordinary work right now to help those most in need.”
The British actor was awarded the Bafta film award for outstanding British contribution to cinema earlier this year for his groundbreaking motion capture work as Gollum, as well as on films like King Kong and the Planet of Apes movie series.
His reading will take place from 10:00 BST on bank holiday Friday, with streaming details to follow via his Hobbitathon Covid-19 Go Fund Me Page.
So far the star has raised just over £4,000 of his £100,000 target.
Join me for the Adventure this coming Friday, May 8. Stay tuned for more details on how you can support @NHSuk and @bestbeginnings pic.twitter.com/nxK11BTl4b
— Andy Serkis (@andyserkis) May 3, 2020
Source:Â bbc.com