| Andy Serkis |
Serkis in may 2008 |
| Born |
Andrew C.G. Serkis
20 April 1964 (1964-04-20) (age 45)
Ruislip, Middlesex, England |
| Spouse(s) |
Lorraine Ashbourne (22 July 2002 – present) |
Andrew C.G. "Andy" Serkis1 (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director and author.
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 originally studied visual art, and was a member of The County College.
Career
Serkis' most critically acclaimed roles have been Sméagol/Gollum, in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–03) and the title character in the 2005 version of King Kong, in which he provided the voice and movements for the CGI characters. Also in Peter Jackson's King Kong, Andy Serkis played the ship's cook. His performance as Gollum is ranked #10 on Premiere's "100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time".
His acclaimed work on the trilogy set off a debate on the legitimacy of CGI-assisted acting. Many critics felt Serkis should have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance, since the movie used his voice, body language, and facial expressions. There is the argument that some of his CGI actions were partially, or in some cases fully animated, without his own movements, but the same can be said for actors in a traditional movie involving CGI. Some believed (incorrectly) that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ruled that he did not qualify because he never physically appeared onscreen. There is no such prohibition, however, and in fact Serkis appeared onscreen as Sméagol/Gollum in the third film, The Return of the King. He also voices the Witch King of Angmar in aforementioned film, although he is not credited.
Continuing the development of performance capture as an art form, 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 over 30 other roles in film and television productions throughout his career. 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. Also in 2006, he appeared in the film version of The Prestige as Mr. Alley, assistant to Nikola Tesla, and as the voice of Spike, one of the henchrats in the latest Aardman Animations film Flushed Away.
In 2006 Serkis appeared in Jim Threapleton's entirely improvised feature film debut, Extraordinary Rendition. In the film he plays an interrogator working inside the CIA's controversial Extraordinary Rendition program. The film was premiered at festivals in summer 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 underwent sessions lasting 20 hours at a time to have temporary tattoos stencilled onto his body. The film was premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and released in the UK on 24 August 2007.
Serkis has played the villain Capricorn in Inkheart, based on the novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke. The film also stars Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren and Paul Bettany. Directed by Iain Softley, it was released in January 2009.
Serkis stars in The Cottage, about two brothers who kidnap an underworld figure and then stumble on a dark rural secret. It was directed by Paul Andrew Williams and co-stars Reece Shearsmith, Jennifer Ellison and Steve O'Donnell.
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 the play 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, England.
Serkis has also provided voiceovers to a series of advertisements for Vodafone and NatWest Bank on British television.
In December 2007, it was confirmed that Serkis would reunite with Peter Jackson as a cast member in Jackson and Steven Spielberg's Tintin trilogy. Filming was due to begin in September 2008 but has since been delayed due to Universal pulling out of backing the project.4
In 2008, Serkis appeared as the murderous French rogue Rigaud in the BBC Television adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit. He will be playing the 1970s rock star Ian Dury in a biopic called Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll which starts shooting in summer 2009.2 He will be re-recording 12 songs with Dury's band The Blockheads 5 for the film.
It has been confirmed that Serkis will play the part of Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg and Jackson's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. Filming began in January 2009.6
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).7
Hobbies include painting and playing the tenor saxophone.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.
Serkis was born to Catholic parents29 and has been an atheist since his teenage years.10
Awards and nominations
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.
Filmography
Other works
References
External links
 Gollum.
Both are genius, arent they?&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/mbW-Zv_kR5Q&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/mbW-Zv_kR5Q/default.jpg&celebrity=Andy Serkis&videoType=YouTube)
 LIVEYouTube=YouTube&summary=This is a crack up video of Tenacious D, featuring Andy Serkis. it was filmed December 04 in Wellington NEW ZEALAND (with thier permission of ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/dG2FzHjzJj8&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://3.gvt0.com/vi/dG2FzHjzJj8/default.jpg&celebrity=Andy Serkis&videoType=YouTube)
 Behind the scenes feature.
Andy Serkis (Gollum/Smeagol) on the filming process.&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/R_ENwZmE-Ec&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://3.gvt0.com/vi/R_ENwZmE-Ec/default.jpg&celebrity=Andy Serkis&videoType=YouTube)
