Back in January, we brought you the news that Andy Serkis (Rise of the Apes) had officially joined the cast of The Hobbit to reprise his role as Gollum / Smeagol in the highly anticipated prequel to director Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Now, THR reports that not only will Serkis be acting and performing motion capture, Serkis has also been appointed second unit director. Check out what Serkis had to say about his new job below.

“I think I understand Peter’s sensibility and we have a common history of understanding Middle Earth. A lot of the crew from The Lord of the Rings was returning to work on The Hobbit. There is really a sense of Peter wanting people around him who totally understand the material and the work ethic.”

Serkis went onto talk about his directorial duties, and added that Gollum will be recognizable to fans of the franchise.

“It is wide ranging and encompasses a lot of directing aspects of filmmaking and story. Yes, there is some performance capture, but I will be very much on the live action sets and locations helping Peter to tell the story. The learning curve is The Hobbit is being shot in 3D.”

“He is very much a Gollum that people will recognize. When we created Gollum the first time, performance capture was it its infancy. Within the industry, there is more appreciation for it as an acting art form. It’s all about character, learning what the character thinks, feels, how he carries pain.”

The Hobbit: Part 1 is currently slated to hit theaters December 2012.

The Hobbit: Part 2 is currently slated to hit theaters December 2013.

The films star Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchette, Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Ken Stott, Mikael Persbrandt, Ryan Gage, Jed Brophy, William Kircher and Stephen Hunter.