Andy Serkis discussing his memoir, My Pressures: The Bizarrely True Story of Andy Serkis

Seats in the Orchestra include a signed copy of My Pressures: The Bizarrely True Story of Andy Serkis.

Andy Serkis is best known for his portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a role that brought him international recognition. He went on to play King Kong in Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Caesar in the Planet of the Apes films, and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars, among others. Additional credits include acclaimed performances in The Prestige, Black Panther and The Batman, as well as award-winning television programs such as Andor and Longford. Andy has also established himself as a director with films including Breathe, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. In 2011, he co-founded The Imaginarium Studios, a leading production and performance-capture company.

Beginning in a childhood split between Ruislip and Baghdad, Andy Serkis takes us – and his characters – on a journey through the early influences that shaped him: acting mentors, early roles at a regional repertory theatre, a passion for mountaineering, a desire for film-making and the love story with Lorraine Ashbourne that became the foundation of his life. Then, the call arrives in 1999 that changes everything. Peter Jackson is preparing to make The Lord of the Rings and Andy is asked to audition for the voice of a certain animated character.

What follows is an extraordinary behind-the-scenes journey through the fantastical worlds Andy has helped shape – The Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes, Black Panther, Star Wars and more – as he pioneered a new form of performance that would forever redefine the possibilities of cinema.

In this memoir, Andy invites us into a genre-defying conversation between actor and character, imagination and reality, and provides an answer to the question: what would Andy’s most iconic characters make of the man that brought them to life?