Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis | |
---|---|
![]() Serkis at MegaCon Orlando in 2025 | |
Born | Andrew Clement Serkis 20 April 1964 Ruislip Manor, Middlesex, England |
Education | Lancaster University |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1985–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including Ruby and Louis |
Awards | Full list |
Andrew Clement Serkis (2022).
Serkis's film work in motion capture has been critically acclaimed.
Serkis portrayed Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Black Panther (2018), as well as the Disney+ series What If…? (2021). He also played Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman (2022). Serkis has his own production company and motion capture workshop, The Imaginarium in London, which he used for Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. He made his directorial debut with Imaginarium's 2017 film Breathe and also directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021).
Early life
Serkis was born on 20 April 1964 in
Serkis was educated at
Having agreed to act in a couple of productions towards the end of his first year, Serkis played the lead role in Barrie Keeffe's play Gotcha as a rebellious teenager holding a teacher hostage. As a result, he changed his major subject to acting, constructing his Independent Studies Degree around acting and set design, studying Konstantin Stanislavski and Bertolt Brecht, and including minor modules in art and visual graphics.[17] In his final year at Lancaster he adapted Raymond Briggs's graphic novel The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman, a satire about the Falklands War, as a one-man show, which he performed to acclaim.[18]
Career
In his third year at university, Serkis joined the backstage team at the local
After 16 months, and having gained his Equity card, Serkis joined a series of touring companies, including productions of:

Serkis first came to wide public notice for his performance as
Serkis has performed motion-capture work in several other films, including the title character in the 2005 version of King Kong (in which he also played the ship's cook in live-action) and as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He also 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).[26][27]
In 2006, Serkis starred as

Serkis reunited with Peter Jackson, as a cast member in Jackson's and
In 2009, Serkis voiced the role of the demon

Serkis would reprise the role of Gollum in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first film in the three-part The Hobbit films. It was released in 2012, and the follow-ups were released in 2013 and 2014.[38] He was also the trilogy's second unit director, which included directing aerial shots and battle scenes.[12] He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012.[39] In 2014, Serkis reprised his role as Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,[27] and again in 2017 for War for the Planet of the Apes, the last of the trilogy.[40]
In
In late 2015, it was announced that Serkis was working on a modern film adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin, titled Steelskin.[48] In addition to starring in the film, Serkis will serve as producer and director.[48]
Serkis received a
In October 2024 it was revealed that Serkis would star as Renoir in the upcoming video game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33,[51] set to be released on 24 April 2025.[52]
The Imaginarium Studios
In 2011, Serkis founded The Imaginarium Studios with film producer Jonathan Cavendish. The Imaginarium is a production company and creative digital studio based in Ealing, London and is dedicated to inventing digital characters using performance capture technology, which Serkis has often worked with.[53] On 20 October 2012, the studio acquired rights to The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, and in 2023 was in production with a new motion capture adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
Directing
Serkis served as the second unit director for The Hobbit films and made his directorial debut with Breathe (2017). He also directed and starred in the film, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.[54] In August 2019, Serkis closed a deal to direct the superhero film Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the sequel to Venom (2018).[55] It was released in theatres in October 2021.[56][57] In April 2022, he was set to direct Animal Farm, an animated adaptation of George Orwell's novella of the same name.[58] In May 2024, it was announced that Serkis would direct, executive produce, and star in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum for Warner Bros. Pictures, a working title for a new instalment in the Lord of the Rings film series, with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens co-writing the screenplay and Jackson co-producing alongside Walsh and Boyens; the film is expected to be released in 2026.[59]
Other activities
Serkis made an appearance in the music video for Neneh Cherry's "Woman", portraying an abusive boyfriend, in 1996.[60] After portraying Gollum in The Lord of the Rings series, he published a memoir about his experiences, titled Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic, published in late 2004. In 2015, Serkis collaborated with rock band Coldplay in the making of the music video for "Adventure of a Lifetime". The group performed as chimpanzees with Serkis acting as a motion-capture consultant.[61]
In December 2018, he appeared in a video for People's Vote as UK Prime Minister Theresa May using the voice of Gollum, spoofing May's Brexit deal.[62][63] He also appears in the BBC Earth programme, Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors.[64]
Serkis, together with fellow Lord of the Rings castmates
Serkis and producer Andrew Levitas are creating a comic book series titled Eternus, about Heracles, the son of Zeus, trying to identify Zeus's killer. The first issue of the series was released on 3 August 2022.[66]
Audiobooks and charity
During the COVID-19 lockdown, on
On 7 July 2021, HarperCollinsUK and Recorded Books announced Serkis would follow up his narration of The Hobbit with a professional recording of all three The Lord of the Rings novels that were released on 16 September.[70] The CDs were released on 14 October 2021.[71]
In 2022, Serkis recorded a new audiobook version of the Terry Pratchett Discworld book Small Gods with Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz.[72]
Personal life

Serkis married actress Lorraine Ashbourne in July 2002. He lives in Crouch End, North London with Ashbourne and their three children: Ruby (b. 1998), Sonny (b. 2000) and Louis (b. 2004), all of whom are actors.[12][73] Louis and Ruby starred in the 2019 film The Kid Who Would Be King and the 2020 Netflix series The Letter for the King respectively. Serkis also starred alongside Ruby, and they played father and daughter.[74] Louis also voiced Bhoot in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which was directed by and co-starred his father as Baloo.[75]
Although Serkis was raised in the
Filmography and accolades
Year | Title | Distribution |
---|---|---|
2017 | Breathe | Bleecker Street |
2018 | Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle | Netflix |
2021 | Venom: Let There Be Carnage | Sony Pictures Releasing
|
2025 | Animal Farm | TBD |
Selected theatre
- The Porter in Macbeth. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1988)
- Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. Directed by James Maxwell at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1990)[76]
- Sean Grogan in Your Home in the West by Rod Wooden. World premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1991)
- Doctor Jan Heart in Doctor Heart by Peter Muller. English premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1991)
- David in Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love by Brad Fraser. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1995)
- Iago in Othello. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (2002)[77]
See also
References
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has generic name (help) - ^ Editor, Ed Nightingale Deputy News (23 January 2025). "Belle Epoque RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets April release date". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
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:|last=
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- ISBN 978-0008439415.
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