Andy Serkis says filming for The Hobbit movies was like being in a "time warp".

The actor is reprising his role as Gollum in the hotly-anticipated Peter Jackson-directed fantasy films.

The two instalments are an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy novel and will act as prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, which were shot a decade ago.

Serkis says returning to the set in New Zealand this time around was a slightly surreal experience.

"We're all a little bit older, and there are more children about on set," he told MTV News. "The crew is fantastic. Literally, it is a bit of a time warp actually, isn't it? Because they're exactly the same people doing exactly the same jobs. Apart from that, the energy and the feel of it is pretty similar."

The two Hobbit movies - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There And Back Again - also see Ian McKellen reprise his role as wizard Gandalf.

The 73-year-old star has described the atmosphere on set.

"Much of it is the same. If you've got 900 people working on the set one day, we'll probably know them all by sight, and you [Serkis] probably know everyone's name," he shared.

"I'm not as diligent as that, but the new people are the actors, so a lot of new actors, but they're not new to us because we've know them of old, from back home in the UK.

"It feels very much the same but a little bit different. A little bit more streamlined."

Jackson recently announced that filming had wrapped on The Hobbit movies.

- © Fairfax NZ News