Andrew C. G. "Andy" Serkis1 (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director and author. He played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and earned several nominations and the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He also earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his portrayal of Ian Brady in the British television film Longford. In 2011, Serkis will reprise his role as Gollum in The Hobbit.
Early life
Serkis was born and brought up in Ruislip Manor, Middlesex. His mother was English and his father was an Iraqi-born gynaecologist of Armenian descent.2
He was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing and at Lancaster University where he studied visual art, a member of The County College, and was also a part of the student radio station Bailrigg FM.
Career
Serkis' most critically acclaimed roles have been Sméagol/Gollum, in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–03), the title character in the 2005 version of King Kong, in which he provided both the voice and movements for the CGI character as well as the ship's cook, and as 1970s punk rock star Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010).
His work on the trilogy started a debate on the legitimacy of CGI-assisted acting. Some critics felt Serkis should have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, since his voice, body language, and facial expressions were used. There is the argument that his CGI actions were partially, or in some cases fully animated, without his movements, but the same is true for actors in a traditional movie with CGI. (Uncredited, Serkis also voices the Witch King of Angmar, as well as several other orc characters.)
Serkis worked with game developers Ninja Theory on the 2007 release Heavenly Sword, providing the motion capture and voice for King Bohan (the game's main villain), as well as acting as Dramatic Director for the game. He has played 30 roles in film and television productions. One of his earliest feature film appearances was alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in The Jolly Boys' Last Stand.
Serkis was cast as serial killer Ian Brady in the BAFTA-nominated Longford, co-starring Samantha Morton as Myra Hindley and Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford. The film was attacked by relatives of Brady's and Hindley's victims.3 The mother of Keith Bennett, whose body has never been found, publicly criticized Serkis for requesting a meeting with Brady in preparation for the role.
In 2006 Serkis appeared in the role of Mr. Grin in the film rendition of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker. In 2006, he was in the film The Prestige as Mr. Alley, assistant to Nikola Tesla, and as the voice of Spike, one of the henchrats in the Aardman Animations film Flushed Away. In 2006 Serkis appeared in Jim Threapleton's improvised feature film, Extraordinary Rendition, which premiered in 2007.
Serkis appeared in Sugarhouse, a low-budget independently made film, playing local crime lord Hoodwink, who terrorises an East London housing estate. For the role, Serkis shaved his head and had sessions lasting 20 hours each to have temporary tattoos stencilled onto his body. The film premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and released in the UK on 24 August 2007.
Serkis appeared in Einstein and Eddington, a joint venture between HBO and BBC. He played Albert Einstein. The film followed Einstein's development of his theory of relativity, and also showed how British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington became the first person to understand the scientist's work. Eddington was played by Doctor Who star David Tennant, who previously starred with Serkis in the stage version of Hurlyburly at the Queens Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue in 1997.
In 2007, Serkis provided the voice over for Monkey Business, Five broadcast for three weeks from 13-31 August 2007. This series is about Monkey World, the popular ape and monkey sanctuary and zoo near Wool, Dorset. Serkis will reunite with Peter Jackson as a cast member in Jackson and Steven Spielberg's Tintin trilogy, based on The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. Filming began in January 2009.4 Filming was due to begin in September 2008 but was delayed due to Universal pulling out of backing the project.5 In 2008, Serkis appeared as Rigaud in the BBC Television adaptation Little Dorrit.
In 2009, Serkis voiced the role of the demon Screwtape in Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre audio drama of The Screwtape Letters.6
In 2010, Serkis was casted as William Burke for the John Landis film Burke and Hare.7 In 2011, Serkis will be once again playing Smeagol/Gollum in The Hobbit as in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit is being directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Personal life
Serkis lives in Crouch End, North London with his wife, actress Lorraine Ashbourne, and their three young children: Ruby (b. 1998), Sonny (b. 2000) and Louis (b. 2004).8
A vegetarian, Serkis only started to eat fish during the filming of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He writes about it in his book Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic, published in 2004.citation needed
Serkis's parents are Catholics, according to an interview with The Guardian, entitled "My family values". He is drawn to the karmic possibilities of energy transference, specifically "the idea that your energy lives on after you".9
Awards and nominations
Won
Nominations
- Golden Globe 2008 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Longford. 2009 Emmy Best suppoting actor in a TV movie or mini series.
Filmography
Other works
References
External links
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 Behind the scenes feature. Andy Serkis (Gollum Smeagol) on the filming process.&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/R_ENwZmE-Ec&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://3.gvt0.com/vi/R_ENwZmE-Ec/default.jpg&celebrity=Andy Serkis)
