
Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith and actor Andy Serkis. Photo courtesy Lancaster University
Actor Andy Serkis has received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith at this year’s graduation ceremonies.
A world-renowned actor, director and producer, 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.
A Lancaster alumnus, Andy’s first acting role came in Barrie Keefe’s Gotcha. As a member of of Lancaster’s Dukes Theatre, he took a lead role in their first Theatre-in-the-Park promenade production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 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, released in 2018, also voicing Mowgli’s friend, Baloo the bear.
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