Watch Andy Serkis live-read all of The Hobbit in one go for charity

We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious. Must have actor Andy Serkis perform the entirety of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal text The Hobbit in a single sitting to benefit charities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our precious.

On Thursday, Serkis, who came to world wide attention playing Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, announced a live-stream delivery of The Hobbit to raise money for the UK nonprofits NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings. The marathon reading kicked off at 10 a.m. GMT (5 a.m. EST/2 a.m. PST) on Friday, May 8, with Serkis performing the entire book from start to finish with no breaks.

“So many of us are struggling in isolation during the lockdown,” Serkis said in a statement. “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”.

Serkis is a busy man. Besides being an ambassador for both supported charities, he’s become both in demand as an actor and director. Before the outbreak shut down Hollywood productions around the globe, Serkis was calling the shots for Tom Hardy on Venom: Let there Be Carnage, which shifted release dates from this fall to June 2021. With the open window, Serkis is resuming his role as a voice of Lord of the Rings.

Serkis is encouraging viewers of the stream to head to his GoFundMe page, where he hopes to collect donations for the two charities.

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