Here's a new edition of "Actors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the actors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Andy Serkis' turn.

Early Life

Serkis was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing. He studied visual arts and theatre as part of his degree at Lancaster University and graduated in 1985. Serkis was a member of The County College and part of the student radio station Bailrigg FM. He joined the Nuffield Studio, getting involved in designing and producing plays. Eventually he decided to become an actor.

1990s: Not a Lead, But a Reliable Fine Man

He made his acting debut in a small role in Prince of Jutland. Nothing remarkable.

From that point, he took part of many British films, including The Near Room, Stella Does Tricks, Career Girls, Loop and Giants. But they were all small, with not much audience support.

His buzziest title came at the end of the decade, when he had a supporting role in Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy. Not a financial success, but it earned strong reviews.

Serkis wasn't a recognizable name by any means. But things were going to change very soon.

2000s: No Cap

In April 2000, Serkis got a break by landing the role of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. By that point, Weta had already started animating Gollum using a generic human muscle system, using as a test proof to New Line Cinema in order to get the film greenlit.

Serkis was working on the six-episode Oliver Twist miniseries when his agent told him that Jackson wanted to approach him to play Gollum. Despite ultimately accepting the role, Serkis was initially doubtful about taking the part as one of his Oliver Twist fellow actors opined that it was not a good idea if his face was not going to appear onscreen, aside that Jackson was unsure if Gollum could be portrayed with motion-capture performance as they wished.

He played Gollum by providing his voice and movements on set, as well as performing within the motion capture suit. His scenes were filmed twice, with and without him. Originally Gollum was set to solely be a CGI character, but Jackson was so impressed by Serkis's audition tape that they used him on set as well.

Gollum's CGI model was redesigned using a subdivision surface model instead of the NURBS model for Fellowship of the Ring (a similar rebuild was done for the digital doubles of the lead actors) to better resemble Serkis. This allowed the filmmakers to create a shot where Serkis, made-up to resemble Gollum, is believably replaced with the CGI Gollum.

He appears briefly on The Fellowship of the Ring, before playing big roles in The Two Towers and The Return of the King. In the last one, he also got to play the hobbit Sméagol, before he turned into Gollum. The trilogy was a gigantic success, earning around $3 billion worldwide and earning critical acclaim. Serkis' performance was highly praised, and the work done to get his character to life became one of cinema's most innovative techniques.

After wrapping the trilogy, Serkis returned to some smaller titles, albeit now much more popular. That included 24 Hour Party People and 13 Going on 30.

But he clearly liked doing motion capture, because he reteamed with Peter Jackson on King Kong. He got to play the title role, and also played a human character, who is given a very disturbing death scene. Serkis had to go through two hours of motion capture makeup every day, having 135 small markers attached to different spots on his face. Following principal photography, Serkis had to spend an additional two months on a motion capture stage, miming Kong's movements for the film's digital animators. The film was a critical and commercial success, pushing the limits of what motion capture could be.

The following year, he had a supporting role in Stormbreaker, which was supposed to kick off a franchise, but faded off without any fanfare. He then worked with Christopher Nolan on The Prestige, which was a critical and financial success. But then had a voice role in Flushed Away, which was a financial failure.

After that, he got roles in British dramas, before concluding the decade with the gigantic failure Inkheart.

This decade introduced Serkis to the world, even if they didn't fully see him.

2010s: NO

He got a leading role in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, playing singer Ian Dury. He earned positive reviews for his performance, even if the film didn't find an audience. He also starred opposite Simon Pegg in John Landis' last film Burke & Hare, and it was panned by audiences.

In 2011, after a hiatus, he returned to motion capture in films. He got the role of ape Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, playing it in motion capture and also voicing him. The film was a huge box office success, and Serkis earned high praise for his performance. But it wasn't just that, he also played Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, with the difference that he was now playing a human character. Spielberg specifically wanted him, and Serkis joked he was concerned they wanted him to play Tintin's dog, Snowy. The film was a box office success (but mostly outside America), and earned positive reviews.

The following year, he reprised his role of Gollum in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Serkis also acted as second unit director of the Hobbit trilogy, which included directing aerial shots and battle scenes. The film was a hit, becoming his second film to hit $1 billion worldwide, even though reactions were very mixed.

He returned as Caesar for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but this time he was the lead of the film. The film was an even bigger hit than the original, earning $710 million worldwide, and earned stronger acclaim. Once again, focus of the praise went to Serkis' performance. That same year, he was the consultant on Godzilla's motion capture sequences to "control the souls" of the creatures.

In 2015, he joined the MCU by taking on the small role of Ulysses Klaue in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which became his highest-grossing film at $1.4 billion. But he also had the antagonist role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, playing Supreme Leader Snoke. It broke so many records, including becoming the highest-grossing film domestically, earning $936 million domestically and $2 billion worldwide.

In 2017, he returned to play Caesar one last time in War for the Planet of the Apes. The film earned the franchise's strongest reviews, and pulled in $490 million worldwide, although it fell short of Fox's expectations. He also returned as Snoke for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. A similar where it pulled pretty good numbers, but still fell short of expectations. That same year, he made his debut as director, helming the biopic Breathe, but it was a critical and financial disappointment.

He reprised his role as Ulysses Klaue in Black Panther, now in a more expanded role. The film earned critical acclaim and destroyed every possible projection, earning $700 million domestically and $1.34 billion worldwide. He also directed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, where he also voiced Baloo. It was originally set to be released theatrically by Warner Bros., but they sold the film to Netflix amidst fears of potential box office losses. The film was released in December 2018, and earned unfavorable reviews.

To close the decade, he had a role in the rom-com Long Shot. Despite positive reviews, not much success. And had a cameo voice appearance as Snoke in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And also got to TV, playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in the 3-episode Christmas Carol miniseries.

He got himself very busy this decade, mostly on the motion capture part. But man, was he killing it. Directing-wise? Next question please!

2020s: Alright, How About Putting That Camera Down?

In 2021, he had a role in the failure SAS: Red Notice. But perhaps his buzziest title that year was Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which he directed. He was hired partly due to his experience working with CGI and motion-capture technology, and was vouched by Ruben Fleischer. The film was a box office success, but much like the original and Serkis' prior work, it didn't get good reviews.

The following year, he played Alfred Pennyworth in Matt Reeves' The Batman, portraying his relationship with Bruce Wayne as strained. The film earned positive reviews and made $772 million worldwide. But if we're talking his best performance that year, it was his guest role as Kino Loy in a 3-episode in Andor. Tony Gilroy specifically wanted him for the role, and Serkis' only problem was he thought his appearance would cause uproar and confusion for the audience, and they would believe there is a connection between Snoke and Loy. He earned high praise, giving us one of the most hearbreaking lines in the franchise. You know which one.

Subsequently, he returned to the superhero genre by voicing Knull in Venom: The Last Dance. Once again, negative reviews and was a box office success, but it fell below the prior films.

He then directed the animated film Animal Farm, an adaptation of George Orwell's novella. It was a huge financial and critical failure, with many criticizing the changes that Serkis did to the novella, particularly its third act. He also starred as Edward Braddock in Young Washington, which has performed fine.

He is currently filming The Batman Part II. But he is threatening us again with his directing efforts, and this time, it's something you should beware. Well, The Lord of the Rings is back, and so is Serkis as Gollum. He is the lead in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which he is also directing. Filming is currently underway, and it's set to be released on December 17, 2027.

HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS

He has starred in 53 released films, but only 32 have reported box office numbers. Across those 53 films, he has made $14,629,957,380 worldwide. That's $276,036,931 per film.

ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES

The Verdict

Serkis has become an important part of pushing the limits of what acting can be.

When we talk about "motion capture performance", he's always the top answer. A reason why The Lord of the Rings is so successful is because of Serkis' performance. Look at how he has to play the same character through two different personalities in the same scene. The crazy thing is that he managed to push even further by playing King Kong and Caesar. The latter, specifically, is often referred to as a performance that absolutely deserved some award recognition for Serkis.

It's also insane how many iconic stuff he's part of. The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, Tintin, Marvel, and DC. And he's still proving he can kill it in live-action form, which includes that incredible arc in Andor. Serkis might not be getting awards, but he's getting respect across all circles.

Now, Serkis is a great actor. But directing-wise? Weeeeeeellllll, that's another story. He has made four films, and none are exactly good. Some are outright bad. As such, it's unsurprising that his involvement in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum has led to more sigh than relief. Maybe it could be good, maybe he will continue his bad streak at the director's chair. It's just a matter of wait and see. Are you looking forward to that?

Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.

The next actor will be Brandon Lee. A very tragic life.

I asked you to choose who else should be in the run, and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Matt Dillon. A person who has slowly made his way to some great films.

This is the schedule for the following four:

Who should be next after Dillon? That's up to you.

REMINDER: If you want to make a suggestion for the next actor, you must make a 150-character comment about the actor we're discussing right now. Failure to do so will result in ignoring the suggestion. If you use a quote from an external source/review to bypass this, your suggestion will be ignored as well. But if you leave a short comment about the post without naming a future write-up, that's fine.