The next Avengers film already has a ridiculously massive cast. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, James Spader and many, many more. That’s a whole heap of actors already. But it also includes one of the finest physical actors of our generation, a man used to being covered in ping pong balls, Andy Serkis. While his role in the film has yet to revealed (IT’S ULYSSES KLAW I KNOW IT IS DAMMIT!), Serkis is pulling double duty, not only acting but coaching as well.
Alongside his Imaginarium studio that specialises in motion capture acting, Serkis worked with James Spader and Mark Ruffalo on their Ultron and Hulk personas. “We did some work on Ultron,” Serkis explained to Coming Soon.
On the development of Ultron before James Spader came on board. In terms of movement styles: was he gonna be human-like? Was he going to be robot-like? So we worked with a bunch of different people, from body-popping experts to dancers, to this guy called Neil who’s nearly eight feet tall…
Abd after his experience in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes which relied on more subtle gestures, Serkis applied those techniques to his tutelage of a certain massive green rage monster as well:
We gave Mark weights, we had voice projections so he could do his Hulk roar. On screen we could have a virtual representation of the low-res avatar of The Hulk, so he could come out and feel that sense of scale.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is out next year. And right now, ping pong ball shops in the area of the motion capture studio must be doing some damn fine business.
Last Updated: November 28, 2014
RinceThis
November 28, 2014 at 13:49
Have such respect for this man.