Andy Serkis Biography

(Actor)

Birthday: April 20, 1964 (Taurus)

Born In: Ruislip, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Advanced SearchAndy Serkis is a British actor and director, renowned for voice acting and his performances in CGI-animated and motion capture movies. He is well-known for playing the role of Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy as well as in ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’. Serkis has played many roles that get portrayed on-screen using the motion capture technology. After playing Kong in the 2005 movie ‘King Kong’, he played the leading role of Caesar in movies, such as ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’. He even lent his voice to the character Captain Haddock in the Steven Spielberg directed flick, ‘The Adventures of Tintin’. Andy also played General Snoke in ‘Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi’. He is currently playing Ulysses Klaue in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film and was involved in his debut directorial flick, ‘Breathe’. Quick Facts

British Celebrities Born In April

Also Known As: Andrew Clement Serkis

Age: 59 Years, 59 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Lorraine Ashbourne

father: Clement Serkis

mother: Lylie Serkis

children: Louis Ashbourne Serkis

Actors Directors

Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Males

City: London, England

More Facts

education: University of Lancaster, St Benedict's School

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British PeopleBritish MenTaurus ActorsBritish ActorsBritish Directors Childhood & Early LifeAndrew Clement G. Serkis was born on April 20, 1964 to Clement Serkis, an Armenian doctor and Lylie, a British teacher. He was born in Ruislip Manor, West London, England and has four siblings.Serkis attended St Benedict's School, located at Ealingin London, and then went on to study visual arts at the University of Lancaster. He finally made his acting debut in the play ‘Gotcha’ by Barrie Keeffe. This was a turning point in his life as he discovered his true passion for acting.In his final year at the University of Lancaster, he did a one-man performance of his adaptation of the graphic novel, ‘The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman’ written by Raymond Briggs.Continue Reading BelowRecommended Lists:Actors Who Are In Their 50sBritish Film & Theater PersonalitiesTaurus MenCareerSerkis started his acting career at Duke's Playhouse in Lancaster in order to get his Equity card. On receiving the card, he performed in multiple plays under the tutelage of Jonathan Petherbridge.He got his first major theatre role in 1989 when he was cast in a production of ‘Macbeth’, while working for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. His relationship with the theatre continued throughout his career as he appeared in other productions like, ‘She Stoops to Conquer’, ‘Your Home in the West’ and ‘True Nature of Love’.It was in 1990 that Serkis delivered a breathtaking performance at the Royal Court Theatre, London with his unique interpretation of ‘The Fool’ in the adaptation of Shakespeare's play ‘King Lear’.In 1989, Serkis started appearing on the TV series, ‘The New Statesman’ as Peter Moran. In the same year, he was also seen in ‘Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors’ as Sparky Pluggand as Dudin in ‘Saracen’. He also got an opportunity to play the major recurring role of Owen in the British TV drama, ‘Streetwise’.While continuing with his theatre work in the 1990s, Serkis went on to appear on a number of TV shows. He played the roles of Dean Platt and Alex Rackin in ‘The Bill’. He then portrayed Pyotr in the series ‘Grushko’, and got to play the recurring role of Tom in the 1994 crime series, ‘Finney’.From 1995 to 1998, Andy was cast in several TV series and movies. He used the opportunity well to prove that he is a worthy member of the acting industry. During this phase, he played MEM O’Brien in ‘The Burning Deck’ episode of ‘Kavanagh QC’, and then played Potts in the movie ‘Mojo’. He was even seen playing Steven Brunos in a few episodes of the TV series ‘The Jump’.The year 1999 catapulted Andy Serkis’ fame to another level as he was cast to play Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings’. He went on to portray the same role in movies, such as ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, ‘The Two Towers’ and ‘The Return of the King’.From 1999 to 2003, for his role as Gollum, Andy Serkis spent most of his time in New Zealand. He did extensive research and had to shoot two versions of any given scene that he was part of. This was done to capture each and every movement that Serkis made using the motion capture technology, so that the digital team could use Serkis’ movements to bring Gollum alive on screen.He also portrayed Bill Skies in the TV series ‘Oliver Twist’, and then played Michael Lawler in the crime drama series, ‘Touching Evil’. While being present in New Zealand for ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Serkis went on to play other interesting roles as well. After portraying Kasim in the miniseries ‘Arabian Nights’, he played John Thelwall in the film ‘Pandaemonium’ and Chester in the mystery thriller flick, ‘Five Seconds to Spare’.Continue Reading Below In 2002, his groundbreaking performance in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ won him several awards and nominations. He repeated this feat in 2003 for ‘The Return of the King’.In the year 2003, he first lent his voice for the character Cleanie in ‘The Simpsons’, an animated TV series, and then for Gollum in the video game, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’. The next year, he went on to lend his voice for the characters, Smeagol, Gollum and The Witch King in the game, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth’.In 2005, he received critical acclaim for his performance in the movie ‘King Kong’. He also lent his voice to the character Lumpy in ‘King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie’.Andy Serkis was cast in a number of important roles in 2006. After playing Alley in the sci-fi flick ‘The Prestige’, he portrayed Spike in the action-adventure comedy film ‘Flushed Away’, and then played Vincent Van Gogh in the series, ‘Simon Schama's Power of Art’. He was nominated for a BAFTA award for his performance as the serial killer, Ian Brady in the British TV drama ‘Longford’.From 2008 to 2010, Andy acted in several movies like, ‘The Cottage’, ‘Inkheart’ and ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’. He also had a recurring role in the TV series ‘Little Dorrit’ in which he played Rigaud. He also lent his voice for an important character in the game, ‘Risen’.2011 saw the actor returning to films that used motion capture technology. He was first cast to play the lead role of Caesar in the ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, and as Captain Haddock and Sir Francis Haddock in ‘The Adventures of Tintin’.Serkis reprised the role of Caesar in the 2014 movie ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and his performance led him to several awards and nominations. This paved the way for him to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans rejoiced the fact that he was cast as the villainous Ulysses Klauein ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’.The actor emulated his success in 2015, when he played the role of Supreme Leader Snoke in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. He is now reprising the role in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, which is scheduled to release later this year. He also won critical acclaim for his portrayal of Caesar in ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’.It has been confirmed that he will reprise his role of Supreme Leader Snoke in ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’, scheduled to be released in 2019, and is also playing the lead role of Ulysses Klaue in the upcoming 2018 movie, ‘Black Panther’.Continue Reading Below On October 27, 2017, he released his first directorial debut ‘Breathe’, through his own production company, ‘The Imaginarium Studios’. He is also working on his second directorial venture, ‘The Jungle Book’ in which he will be playing Baloo.RecognitionAndy Serkis is credited for transcending the motion-capture art form to a new level. His performance as Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings Trilogy’ has been praised by many and it also nominated him for several prestigious awards.Awards & AchievementsAndy Serkis won the Best Supporting Actor for ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ at the 2003 Saturn Awards. He won the award again in 2012 for ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’.At the 2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards, he, along with the cast of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’, won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.He has also won the Best Actor Award at the 2010 Evening Standard British Film Award for ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’.In 2015, he won the Best Actor Award at Empire Awards for ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’.Personal LifeAndrew Serkis is married to actress Lorraine Ashbourne from July 2002, and the couple has three children – Ruby, Sonny and Louis.He supports and is associated with charities like PETA and White Knot for Equality, which supports the LGBT community.TriviaAndrew has written a memoir ‘Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic’, depicting his experiences about bringing Gollum to life on the big screen.