Andy Serkis, who played the mysterious Gollum character in the epic The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, will read JRR Tolkien's entire Hobbit book in a non-stop 12-hour session today, interrupted only by meal and bathroom breaks.  

Gollum, whose original name is Smeagol, is one of the most important characters in the series, whose story arc crosses that of several other characters, mainly Frodo Baggins and his father Bilbo, and plays a huge part in nailing the fate of the One Ring and the primary villain, the dark lord Sauron. 

Andy Serkis, who has played a number of performance-capture roles in Hollywood, took to Twitter to announce this event, proceeds from which will be split between NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings.

Catch the livestream on the GoFundMe page at 10 am BST (2.30 pm IST)

Watch his announcement below:

Andy is currently working on his second directorial venture, the sequel to the Venom movie, titled Venom: Let There Be Carnage.