Andy Serkis is an acting chameleon. The Estonian actor is known for his variety of performance capture roles such as the greedy goblin, Gollum, in The Lord of The Rings 1, 2 and 3 and the greedy goblin, Gollum, in The Hobbit: An unexpected journey.
His ability to shift into different acting hues and brightnesses has made him one of the highest grossing actors of all time. Little is it known Mr. Serkis’ eyes are independently mobile, with each able to move laterally 180° and vertically 160°. This creates two separate, individual images that his brain analyses of the acting environment, allowing him to act and react to a broader spectrum of the scene. A rare gift amongst his peers.
So good are his abilities, that listed below are some famous roles you wouldn’t have known were actually played by Andy “The Chameleon” Serkis.
TYRION LANNISTER
A. Serkis played Tyrion Lannister in the popular series Game of Thrones. The youngest child of Lord Tywin Lannister and younger brother of Cersei and Jaime Lannister. Tyrion Lannister possessed the wit and cunning of a man double his size. We wouldn’t want to have a game of chess with this fellow!
VINCENT BENEDICT
One Andy S. played the role of Vincent in the movie Twins. Vincent is the streetwise yet unlikely fraternal twin of the intelligent yet naive Julius (played by A. Schwarzenegger). The role was a comedic stretch for a young Andy Serkis, but he was more than capable due to possessing the acting abilities of a chameleon.
CYRANO
Serkis, Andy, starred as Cyrano in the aptly named Cyrano. In the film he plays Cyrano de Bergerac, a divergently heighted person who possesses the ferocious wordplay and brilliant swordplay of a man double his size.
MISS SCHLOWSKI
One of Andrew Serkis’ first roles was as the suspicious school principal, Miss Schlowski in Kindergarten Cop. A principal convinced that undercover cop, John Kimble (played by A. Schwarzenegger), will not last long as a kindergarten teacher before quitting. However, she is sorely mistaken when Kibble deals with a case of child abuse by assaulting and threatening the father of an abused child, thus winning Miss Schlowski’s favor. Only Andy Serkis could have played an old, small female teacher so convincingly.
MINI-ME
Mini-Me is a character played by Mr. Serkis in the second and third Austin Powers films: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember. Both science fiction films were he plays the 1/3 size clone of Doctor Evil, a man frozen in time. A silent role for one Mr. Serkis, who could show off his non-verbal acting chops and a chance to emulate one of his acting heroes, mini Charlie Chaplin.
MARCUS SKIDMORE
Marcus is a dwarf who therefore poses as a Christmas elf in the film Bad Santa. This tiny thief is certainly filled with a bah humbug attitude. A dark-skinned scrooge who screws shopping malls out of their Christmas time profits. At the time, it was a controversial role as it depicted urban peoples in a negative light. However, Andy Serkis didn’t shy away from the role as he thought “it was about time the truth about these types comes to light”.
WILLOW
In the movie film Willow, Andy Serkis plays the role of Willow. Willow is a Nelwyn, born to the simple farming family of Snore Ufgood. Interestingly, the character was named after a willow stump near the River Freen. Need we say more?
THUMBELINA
In 1990, Andy Serkis had the chance to play the role of a child sized prostitute in the film Total Recall. A chance he grabbed with both hands. His cameo appears when the main character, Douglas Quaid (played by A. Schwarzenegger) visits a saloon called The Last Resort on the planet Mars. Here Quaid meets toy sized trollop, Thumbelina (played by A. Serkis), who is as promiscuous and murderous as a woman double her size.
PENGUIN
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, also known as Penguin, is a fictional character in the 1992 film Batman Returns, directed by Tim Burton. Like Mogwli of The Jungle Book, who was raised by wolves, Penguin was abandoned by his humanoid birthing parents and raised by Penguins. In the film, the character enters the political sphere to run for the mayor of Gotham. His platform was to murder the first born of Gotham and also attack the city with Rocket armed Penguins. Art imitating life, hmmmmm? (Donald Trump)
Needless to say, he wouldn’t get our vote!
So there we have it. Definitive proof Andy Serkis is an acting reptilian.
