Andy Serkis is known to many for his film portrayals, from 13 Going on 30’s fashion magazine editor-in-chief to Lord of the Ring’s Gollum. More recently, though, the actor and filmmaker also starred in a little game you may have heard of; Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Serkis voiced Renoir in Sandfall Interactive’s debut game, which following its release last year has won scores of praise along with a fair few awards, as well. Serkis has now shared a little more about his work on Clair Obscur, and how Hollywood’s attitude towards games is changing.
Serkis showered Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in praise during a recent interview with Variety, where he noted how powerful the game’s music is and how emotional its story is. Not to mention just how darn beautiful it is.”I don’t see any difference between that and acting in films, or on stage, or TV,” Serkis said. “It’s exactly the same. You approach the character and build a character in the same way.”
The actor reflected on his own first experience acting in a video game, when Serkis portrayed King Bohan in Ninja Theory’s Heavenly Sword. “At that point, actors looked down on video games,” Serkis said, but noted that has since changed. “Now, young actors coming out of drama school are like ‘I really want to be in a video game’.”
Serkis called it somewhat ironic that Hollywood is now using video game engines during production, as they can help filmmakers visualise and preview big action sequences. These previews are also useful for those on the cinematography side of film making, as they are given the opportunity to figure out their shots and where to place light sources.
“It’s an essential tool of modern film making,” Serkis said, “and there has always been that snobbery about video games not being anywhere near film making, but that’s all changing. Certainly, in view to the future when we have more immersive story telling, which is what’s happening.”
You can listen to the full interview with Serkis via the video below.
More and more high-profile actors have turned their attention to video games over the years, with more recent examples including Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077, and Idris Elba in its DLC Phantom Liberty; Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux and Norman Reedus in Hideo Kojima‘s talent-packed Death Stranding; and, of course, Serkis’ co-star in Expedition 33, Charlie Cox, to name just a few.
Earlier this year, Cox revealed he is set to star in another video game following the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. While he stopped short of revealing which game he is going to be part of next, Cox said he will be “much more involved” with this one, and it will require “more work” from him, suggesting he may be doing the motion capture performance as well as the voice over when the time comes.
