As more and more big Hollywood actors move over to video game acting, the stigma around it is fading away. But Lord of the Rings' performance capture king Andy Serkis says he's always seen movie and game acting in the same light.
"I don't see any difference between that and acting in films or on stage or TV," said Serkis in an interview with Variety. "It's exactly the same. You approach the character and build a character in the same way."
Serkis has been a part of many video games, including a series based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate, and most recently appeared in the hit 2025 game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as Renoir. Serkis spoke about his introduction to the industry with Heavenly Sword in 2007. "At that point, actors looked down on video games as like, 'I wouldn't get involved in a video game,'" recalls Serkis.
"There has always been that snobbery about video games not being anywhere near filmmaking," but "that's all changing" now. The Gollum star added, " Now young actors coming out of drama schools and they're like, 'I really wanna be in a video game.'"
Due to his vast experience with motion capture and otherworldly characters such as Gollum and The Planet of the Apes' Caesar, Serkis is the perfect candidate for video game acting. But other stars are joining in the fun, too. Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba notably appeared in the 2020 game Cyberpunk 2077, The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus, Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen, and Dune's Léa Seydoux all starred in Death Stranding, and Star Wars legend Mark Hamill voiced the Joker in the Batman: Arkham series. The list goes on.
But it's not just the acting that translates, it's also the technology. "The irony is that Hollywood is using video game engines to drive all of the previews for all of the big action sequences in all of the movies," added Serkis. "But also for cinematographers to use pre-vis and to be able to place light sources or moonlight or sunlight or, you know, very specifically in a shot. It's an essential tool of modern filmmaking."
Next up for Serkis in the gaming world, the star is set to play Thul in Squadron 42, which is expected to release this year. In the movie land, Serkis is reprising his role as Smeagol in the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie The Hunt for Gollum, which will hit screens in December 2027. Serkis will also reprise Bruce Wayne's trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth in Matt Reeves' 2027 movie The Batman 2.
For more, check out our guide to the best video game movies, and keep up with upcoming video game movies heading your way.
