Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 fantasy novel "The Hobbit", and became an important character in its sequel, "The Lord of the Rings". Gollum was a Stoor Hobbit of the River-folk, who lived near the Gladden Fields. Originally known as Sméagol, he was corrupted by the One Ring and later named Gollum after his habit of making "a horrible swallowing noise in his throat".
Gollum
In "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", Serkis himself appears in a flashback scene as Sméagol before his degeneration into Gollum. This scene was originally earmarked for "The Two Towers", but was held back because the screenwriters felt audiences would relate better to the original Sméagol once they were more familiar with who he became. The decision to include this scene meant that Raitt and Jamie Beswarick had to redesign Gollum's face for the second and third movies so that it would more closely resemble Serkis'. The brief glimpses in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" are of an earlier model of Gollum.