Although Andy Serkis has acted in several films using his god-given body, these days he’s more famous for his ability to mirror simian movements. From Lord of the Ring’s Gollum to King Kong’s titular monster monkey, it’s Serkis’ motion-capture performances that have really catapulted him to mainstream success.
To promote his newest film to star him as an angry ape, Serkis went on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He begins his interview by discussing how his motion capture performances work, and he even shows a clip that demonstrates how seamless the digital transition from Serkis’ human performance to that of a sentient monkey is. It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at just how important talented human actors still are in an industry increasingly utilizing computer-generated graphics.
And while that would be an interesting enough clip in itself, Colbert wisely ends Serkis’ appearance with an appeal for the veteran actor to bust back out his most famous role. After receiving a cue card with several Trump tweets scrawled across it, Serkis leaps up into a classic Gollum squat and reads the tweets back in the character’s iconic voice. Surprisingly, it doesn’t really diminish the tweets in any way. If anything, as Colbert notes, “They actually sound better that way.”
Watch the clip above and check out our review of Serkis’ most recent mo-cap performance in War for the Planet of the Apes right here.