World-renowned actor, director and producer Andy Serkis has been awarded an honorary degree by Lancaster University.
He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith.
Andy Serkis has taken leading roles in some of cinema’s biggest movie franchises. A pioneer of performance capture, his roles as Gollum (Lord of the Rings), Supreme Leader Snoke (Star Wars) and Caesar (Planet of the Apes) have become legendary, alongside significant non-performance-capture roles, including Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. He has received an Empire Award, and two Saturn Awards for his motion-capture acting. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of serial killer Ian Brady in the British television film Longford (2006) and was nominated for a BAFTA for his portrayal of new wave and punk rock musician Ian Dury in the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010). Serkis also portrayed Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Black Panther (2018).
A Lancaster alumnus, Andy’s first acting role came in Barrie Keefe’s Gotcha. As a Dukes Theatre member, he took a lead role in their first Theatre-in-the-Park production. A successful stage career followed, before movie stardom beckoned.
Andy has also most recently taken to a career as a film director – serving as second unit director on The Hobbit franchise, and then his directorial debut Breathe (2017), through his company, The Imaginarium.
Andy remains a leading innovator in CGI and performance capture, including through directing Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018).
