that interview is this one:
That part about Gollum begins at the 19:30 mark
This is a somewhat accurate transcription (because he keeps mumbling):
Interviewer: Asking how The Lord of the Rings began leads on to this question—
Tolkien interrupts him: Then it grew! Then grew without control.
Interviewer: Without control? Well, this is the point: you did not have a scheme? No outline at all?
Tolkien: Well except there was a major one, that the Ring it ought to be—
Interviewer: I mean, did you know the Ring had to be destroyed from the beginning?
Tolkien: Oh, yes, yes, because Gandalf says so quite early. Therefore at some point, a Hobbit, he has to make his way to the cracks of doom obviously, and that's the only thing, and several times I'd try to write that last scene ahead of time, but it didn't come out, it never worked. Oh, I had to wait for it to come through.
Interviewer: Did you decide right at the beginning that Gollum was to play such a part, or did you go back to the book after and write in the various linking parts of Gollum?
Tolkien: You couldn't get Gollum out, could you? If you think of Gollum's relation to the Ring, if the Ring is going to be important than the Gollum business must be important. I liked him better than all the other characters, and I'm much more sorry for him.
Interviewer (laughs a little): But you see this is interesting because he's practically the only grey character with a possibly exception of Boromir right to the book.
Interviewer: And Denethor, yes, the others are almost completely black and white.
Tolkien: They all have their temptations, actually
Interviewer: They all have their temptations, but nevertheless, the moment you've established your character, um, your reader knows what his, what his own personal character is, he's going to be a goodie or a baddie.
Tolkien: Yes, yes, one knows that that isn't generally true, I have to simplify a little bit
Interviewer: That's why Gollum is so interesting because one, you know he, he almost repents at one point, doesn't he, where he sees Frodo—
Tolkien: That's to me the most poignant bit of the whole story, the most poignant moment of all, cause it's so terribly true, it's the good people that do the damage so often. It was fair, Sam's suspicious faith, this was very much justified, which ruined Gollum. (He sighs) You see that if you go a long, long way in wickedness, then comes your chance, which you can't therefore demand, that it's made nice and easy at that point, it's going to be probably very sticky, the last chance, and it was too sticky for Gollum. Because I printed a lot of thought on it, because he grew on me.
I mean I could almost see Gollum, where I've been most criticized by certain people, and where I think I'm the most right, is making point of the fact, that though I do praise them for seeing it, is that Frodo actually failed. The thing that some people have said about it, so strongly, there is a lot of thought in this age, when we are now faced with the, with the absolute certainty of pressures, which can't be resisted.
People do, good people do realise more clearly than ever before that the motives that would go into such a situation are so important. It's very rash to put yourself in a position that you know to be too powerful for you, that's presumption. If you're going with good emotion and then land in a position which you can't face up to then that's up to the government, isn't it? Some people have been very angry about it.
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