Andy Serkis - The Man Behind the Mask. Justin Lewis
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Introduction
Chapter 1: RUISLIP, BAGHDAD, LANCASTER
Chapter 2: THE INVESTIGATOR: SERKIS AND STAGE WORK
Chapter 3: LORRAINE
Chapter 4: PUSHING THROUGH THE CAMERA: TELEVISION
Chapter 5: THE LOW-BUDGET PRISON: EARLY FILM WORK
Chapter 6: LORD OF THE RINGS I: CROUCHING ADDICT
Chapter 7: LORD OF THE RINGS II: SERKIS IN MOTION
Chapter 8: LORD OF THE RINGS III: THE PRIZE
Chapter 9: CAPTURED ONCE MORE: KING KONG
Chapter 10: NORMALISING THE EXTREME: ANDY SERKIS AND THE DARK SIDE
Chapter 11: SERKIS AND BIOPICS
Chapter 12: DURY
Chapter 13: A STORYTELLER FROM THE OUTSIDE: SERKIS THE DIRECTOR
Chapter 14: THE CGI CHAPLIN
Andy Serkis: CREDITS
Further Reading
Index
Plates
Copyright
When The Two Towers, the second film in Peter Jackson’s lavish epic screen trilogy of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, became a worldwide box-office sensation at Christmas 2002, the big mystery surrounded the grotesque, crawling and emaciated figure of Gollum. Because he had been developed via computer-generated imagery (CGI), it was assumed that the man who was playing the role of Gollum had merely donated a voice for him, as someone might do for any kind of animated character. In fact, Andy Serkis had played every aspect of Gollum – physical, emotional and psychological – and his physical movements and facial expressions were converted digitally into a specially created version of the character. But just who was the man behind the mask of Gollum? Who was Andy Serkis?
Perhaps one of the many reasons why Serkis’s Gollum made such an impression was that the actor was not a star name, and so few who saw the films had any preconceptions about him. He had been a versatile professional actor since 1985, constantly in demand with stage roles all over Britain. His virtuosic level of physical acting had made some theatre critics single him out of a cast by name, but, despite landing roles on TV and in films, it took the Tolkien trilogy to bring his name to millions.
The Lord of the Rings made Andy Serkis an internationally renowned actor, and he has remained loyal to Peter Jackson’s film work, having collaborated with him again on King Kong and, more recently, once more as Gollum in the forthcoming multi-instalment adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Meanwhile, his work with CGI has also been seen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. But elsewhere he has continued to wear a variety of masks for other characters, too, both real and fictional figures, from Albert Einstein to Bill Sikes, culminating in his award-winning and high-profile interpretation of Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.
What Serkis brings to each and every part is a commitment, a determination to research the heart, soul and mind of whichever part he has been assigned – and then reporting back his findings to the audience. He also displays a generosity to his fellow actors and collaborators. He regards acting as sharing the limelight with the audience rather than monopolising his performance space.
In this book, we will follow Andy Serkis through his life and career to date. We will discover how his ambition to be an artist as a youth was overtaken by a raging passion for the stage. We will separately investigate his work for theatre and television, two strands that would intertwine from 1989 onwards, and then introduce a third strand: his first few years in film. Over three chapters, we will dive into Middle-earth and discover how he tied together all of this experience when helping Peter Jackson reinvent Gollum for the screen, before doing the same as Kong in 2004–5. Next, we will explore his thoughts and feelings about portraying villainy and evil on stage and screen, and discover that his highly praised screen performance as Ian Dury was by no means the only time he played a figure who had actually lived. And, finally, we will find out more about his accomplishments as a director, and examine some of his current and future projects. Along the way, we’ll also glimpse into his home life with his family and the woman who has been his partner and wife for more than 20 years: fellow actor Lorraine Ashbourne.
No matter who he portrays – ape, pop icon, killer or Gollum – there’s always a little bit of Andy Serkis behind the masks of the wide range of figures he has played. ‘You can always see yourself,’ he told the Guardian in November 2010. ‘People tell me they can see elements of my personality. It’s subtle – timing, eye movement and gestures – but it’s there if you look closely.’
Long regarded as reliable, resourceful and adventurous, Andy Serkis has always been interested in the power of stage and screen acting as ‘a transformative experience’, seeing how drama can transcend entertainment and actually change people’s lives. He has often spoken about acting being a service to the community and a responsibility, which may explain why stardom has – albeit belatedly – found him. As we will see, at no point in his career has he consciously pursued celebrity. ‘Working for others is something my parents instilled in us,’ Andy said in 2010. ‘There was a strong sense of the importance of helping other people.’ And Clement and Lylie Serkis’s separate but tireless career paths had set a clear example of service and responsibility to their three daughters and two younger sons.
English-born Lylie taught children with special needs, but continued to raise all five of her offspring almost single-handedly. Clement, whose surname had been shortened from Serkissian, was of Armenian descent and worked as a doctor in Iraq throughout the time that Andy and his siblings were growing up. Clement had already qualified as a gynaecologist when he first met his future wife; she was recovering in Baghdad after contracting tuberculosis back in England. Following the couple’s marriage, Clement continued to live and work in Iraq, while Lylie and their children would relocate to Ruislip Manor in Middlesex, 13 miles northwest of central London.
Clement and Lylie’s fourth child, Andrew, was born on 20 April 1964. In that same year, Clement was one of four medics who co-founded a private hospital in Baghdad called Ibn Sina. The founders had expressed grave concern that the city, despite its size and population, had no hospital with sufficiently modern equipment and facilities. Although it had been founded for the benefit of the ruling class, Clement and his three co-founders fervently believed that Ibn Sina should provide free treatment for anyone in need, regardless of their race, religion or social status.
Until the mid-1970s, the Serkis children would see their father only during school holidays.