Actor-director Andy Serkis, who was honoured at the Baftas 2020 for his pioneering work on performance capture, said this form of “egalitarian” acting is a great tool for artistes going ahead in the 21st century. He was presented the Bafta for his outstanding British contribution to cinema by veteran theatre and film actor Ian McKellen.
The actor, who met with an accident while playing winter sports appeared onstage in crutches, received a standing ovation as he accepted the trophy from his “Lord of the Rings” co-star. Serkis has delivered powerhouse performances by playing computer-generated characters such as Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the revolutionary ape, Caesar in “Planet of Apes” film franchise to name a few.
The 55-year-old actor said performance/ motion capture signifies the “end of typecasting”, allowing actors to play any role they want to. “I truly believe performance capture is an egalitarian form of acting. It’s one of the great tools for actors and filmmakers of storytelling in the 21st century. It signifies the end of typecasting – anyone can play anything. It never used to be accepted as a standard industry practice, but it is now,” the actor-director said in his acceptance speech.
“So a monumental thank you to all the innovators, coders, animators, the CGI artistes, companies, and the actors who continue to develop it,” Serkis added. He thanked his wife and “favourite actor on the planet” Lorraine Ashbourne and his family in his address. Serkis also thanked “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson, the team at WETA digital who did the visual effects that transformed him into Gollum.
“Thank you to Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyle for introducing me to the aforesaid spandex suit, spending many years with Ian and spending wonderful characters in your movies,” he said. In a nod to the “Planet of the Apes” team, the actor expressed gratitude to his “ape family” — Dylan Clarke, Matt Reeves, Rupert Wyatt, Terry Notary and Michael Giacchino.Serkis, who owns The Imaginarium, a production company linked to a digital performance-capture, thanked co-founder Jonathan Cavendish and team members for their contribution to the award.