Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic is a memoir written by actor Andy Serkis about his adventures playing Gollum in New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It was released to coincide with the theatrical release of The Return of the King. Plot Gollum details how a three-week commission for Andy Serkis to provide a voice-over for Gollum grew into a five-year commitment to breathe life and soul into The Lord of the Rings most challenging creation. Andy Serkis tackles various subjects throughout the book, including character conception (Gollum's "cough" is derived from his cat coughing up a hairball) as well as the hard work it took to act out Gollum and replace it with CGI. He also discusses the controversy of whether he should have been eligible for an Academy Award for his work as Gollum.