Biography
This page uses content from the Andy Serkis biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Andy Serkis (born April 20, 1964) is a British actor and director of Armenian descent.
Life
Serkis was born and brought up in Ruislip, Middlesex, England. He attended Lancaster University where he originally studied visual art. His most memorable and critically acclaimed roles have been Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–2003) and Kong in the 2005 version of King Kong, where he provided the voice and movements for the CGI characters.
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 but some believed incorrectly that the Academy ruled that he did not qualify because he never physically appeared onscreen. There is no such prohibition and, as a matter of fact, Serkis appeared onscreen as Sméagol before he became Gollum.
Continuing the development of Performance capture as an art form, Serkis is working with game developers Ninja Theory on the 2007 release of Heavenly Sword.
He has played over 30 other roles in film and television productions throughout his career.
Serkis was cast as the Moors Murderer, Ian Brady in Longford, co-starring Samantha Morton as Myra Hindley and Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford. The film was attacked by relatives of the victims [1]. The mother of Keith Bennett, whose body has never been found, blasted Serkis when he requested a meeting with Brady in preparation for the role.
One of his earliest feature film appearances was alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in "The Jolly Boys Last Stand" [2] - Now considered a British cult comedy classic.
Serkis has recently appeared in the role of Mr Grin in the film rendition of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker. He can also be seen in the film version of The Prestige as Mr Alley, assistant to Nikola Tesla, played by David Bowie and can be heard as the voice of Spike, one of the henchrats in the latest Aardmann Animation film Flushed Away.
Serkis lives in North London with his wife, actress Lorraine Ashbourne and their three young children Ruby, Sonny and Louis.
Selected filmography
- Muybridge (2007) as Erickson
- Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006) as Vincent Van Gogh
- Inkheart (2006) as Capricorn
- Sugarhouse Lane (2006) as Hoodwink
- Rendition (2006)as Lead Interrogater
- Longford (British TV drama) (2006) as Ian Brady
- Stormbreaker (2006) as Mr. Grin
- The Prestige (2006) as Mr. Alley
- Flushed Away (2006) (voice) as Spike
- King Kong (2005) as King Kong and Lumpy the cook
- Stories of Lost Souls (2005) as Granny, Rastafarian and Hunter Jackson
- Blessed (2004) as Father Carlo
- 13 Going on 30 (2004) as Richard Kneeland
- Standing Room Only (2004) as Granny, Rastafarian and Hunter Jackson
- Spooks (2004 - series 3, episode 8) (TV) as Riff
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) as Sméagol (aka Gollum), Witch-king of Angmar (voices)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) as Sméagol (aka Gollum)
- Deathwatch (2002) as Pvt. Thomas Quinn
- 24 Hour Party People (2002) as Martin Hannett
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) as Sméagol (aka Gollum)
- The Escapist (2001) as Ricky Barnes
- Jump (2000) as Shaun
- Shiner (2000) as Mel
- Pandaemonium (2000) as John Thelwall
- The Jolly Boys' Last Stand [3] (2000) as Spider
- Arabian Nights (2000) (TV) as Kasim
- Oliver Twist (1999) (TV) as Bill Sikes
- Topsy-Turvy (1999) as John D'Auban
- Shooting the Past (1999) (TV) as Styeman
- Five Seconds to Spare (1999) as Chester
- Touching Evil III (1999) (mini) TV Series as Michael Lawler
- The Tale of Sweety Barrett (1998) as Leo King
- The Jump (1998) (TV) as Steven Brunos
- Among Giants (1998) as Bob
- Clueless (1998) as David
- Insomnia (1998) as Harry
- Mojo (1997) as Potts
- The Pale Horse (1997) (TV) as Sergeant Corrigan
- Career Girls (1997) as Nick Evans
- Loop (1997) as Bill
- Stella Does Tricks (1996) as Fitz
- The Near Room (1995) as Bunny
- Finney (1994) TV Series as Tom
- Grushko (1994) (TV) as Pyotr
- Prince of Jutland (1994) as Torsten
- Pie in the Sky (TV episode 'Passion Fruit Fool) (1993) as Maxwell
- The Darling Buds of May (TV episode 'Le Grande Weekend) (1992) as Greville
- Morris Minor and his Marvellous Motors (1989) (TV) as Sparky Plugg
- Streetwise (1989) (TV) as Owen
Other works
- Heavenly Sword, a Playstation 3 title planned for release at the console's November launch. He stars as King Bothan, voicing him and providing a basis for his in-game face. He also acts as the dramatic director on the project.
External links
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
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