The first film Andy Serkis fell in love with
If you want an animated character to come to life in live action, there’s few actors you would turn to quicker than Andy Serkis. Known for bringing Gollum to life in The Lord of the Rings trilogy with terrifying emotional depth, as well as the defiant ape Caesar in the Planet of the Apes series, Serkis has carved out a unique niche for himself, championing complex cinematic roles that require intense physical performances.
Serkis is, however, a multi-faceted creative, with his career existing long before he stepped foot in the murky world of Middle Earth, working with the iconic British filmmaker Mike Leigh in two 1990s collaborations, Career Girls and Topsy-Turvy. Whilst his work alongside Peter Jackson in the Lord of the Rings trilogy would boost his profile, he’s far from a one-trick pony, with recent movements demonstrating his proficiency in the director’s chair.
Making his directorial debut in 2017 with the movie Breathe, Serkis would be better known for his collaboration with Netflix one year later, a time when he helmed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. Released shortly after the Disney live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, Serkis’ version stood firmly on its own two feet, and Serkis followed the film’s success with his unique foray into the Marvel universe in the form of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Naturally, as an actor and celebrated filmmaker, Serkis is also a keen cinephile, sitting down with Hot Corn to discuss some of the movies that have inspired him most throughout his career. “I think it was probably Apocalypse Now,” Serkis replied when asked for the first movie he ever fell in love with, adding: “I saw it in 1979 when it came out, on 70mm in Paris, I was taken to see it and I didn’t know what the hell it was I was going to see, and it was just massive”.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the iconic Vietnam war movie is one of Hollywood’s most notorious productions, with actors, producers, and cinematographers having spoken of the logistical disaster that the 1979 movie offered. Starring the likes of Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne and Harrison Ford, the film tells the story of Captain Willard, a man sent to Cambodia on a dangerous mission to assassinate a renegade colonel.
Further explaining his love of the movie, Serkis adds: “The choppers, everything about it, it stayed with me, that film really stayed with me and informed me hugely as a filmmaker, it’s always been my touchstone. That was the one”.
Later in the conversation, Serkis is further quizzed about his favourite movies, with the publication asking him for a film that he would “never get tired of watching”. Replying to the tricky question, he answers: “Probably The Piano actually, with Holly Hunter, Sam Neill and Harvey Keitel, by Jane Campion. She’s an amazing director. I love it, I absolutely adore that film”.
Take a look at the trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now below, and watch out for flourishes of the director’s style in the Serkis movies of the future.
