Andy Serkis (born April 20, 1964) is a British actor who was born and brought up in Ruislip, West London. He is best known for 'playing' Gollum by providing the voice and movements for the CGI character in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–2003). He will also provide the movements for a CGI King Kong in LOTR director Peter Jackson's planned remake. He has played over 30 other roles in movie and television productions through his career.

Acting credits

• Martin Hannett in 24 Hour Party People
• Bill Sikes in ITV's Oliver Twist
• Gollum/Smeagol in LOTR
• Pvt Quinn in Deathwatch

Random trivia about Serkis

• His father was a doctor in Iraq.
• His mother taught handicapped children.
• He went to St Benedict's School, London, UK.
• He is a graduate of Lancaster University, where he chose Theatre Studies as a second option.
• He has two children, a son and a daughter.
• He was required to don a wetsuit and flail around in literally freezing water during reshoots for The Two Towers.
• Because his character in The Two Towers was computer-generated, he was ruled ineligible for a Best Supporting Actor award at the 2003 Academy Awards. He does however make an appearance in person, as Sméagol before he becomes Gollum, in The Return of the King, and therefore became eligible for the 2004 award. In the event, he was not nominated for it.
• He owns the prop One Ring used in The Two Towers, given to him by director Jackson, so in a sense Gollum has finally acquired his "precious".
• Serkis made a guest appearance on the popular T.V. show The Simpsons. In the episode, he reprised his role as a Gollum-like character who called garbage his "precious".
• One of his chief hobbies is mountaineering, so he was especially proud to have met Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mount Everest, during principal photography for Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.

External links

• Official homepage http://www.serkis.com
• Andy Serkis http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0785227/ at the Internet Movie Database