For those who aren’t up to date on their Tolkien lore, Sméagol is another name for the character Gollum. Gollum was originally introduced in the “Hobbit” book, where he played a brief role as a minor (though fascinating) side character. However, when Tolkien decided that the One Ring would be the primary connecting point between “The Hobbit” and its sequel, “The Lord of the Rings,” Gollum’s part increased in importance.

The slimy wretch ends up playing a pivotal role throughout “The Lord of the Rings” by chasing down his Precious and then helping lead Frodo and Sam into Mordor on their quest to destroy the One Ring. Gollum is typically depicted as a thin, warped creature. He’s the epitome of Bilbo’s “butter scraped over too much bread” line from “The Fellowship of the Ring.” But he didn’t start that way. When Gollum finds the Ring five centuries before “The Lord of the Rings,” he looks like just another Hobbit (hence the ability to have Serkis play the role in his normal skin).

After Sméagol kills his friend and claims his treasure, the power of the Ring extends his lifespan, allowing him to obsess over it as it slowly turns him into the subterranean wretch that Bilbo meets much later. Before that transformation, though, Gollum is a Hobbit — or at least a member of the proto-halfling race that eventually becomes the Hobbits. Peter Jackson found this so important that he moved the critical origin story to the opening act of his biggest Middle-earth film — and chose none other than Serkis himself to play Sméagol.

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