10 Best Andy Serkis Performances

This passion project for Serkis came at an unfortunate time. When the production was confirmed and steps were being taken to start producing the film, Disney announced their own intention to remake their original Jungle Book animation. This ended up delaying the motion capture film and ended with it moving straight to Netflix as opposed to a cinema release.

The film itself is a fascinating look at the original tale, and was far darker than the Disney production like Serkis had promised. Directing and starring within the movie, Serkis clearly wanted to see it succeed and his performance as Baloo shows how willing and excited he was to get right into the source material.

Taking on a far harsher direction for the bear that helps to guide Mowgli, this version of Baloo was fascinating to watch. Seeing Serkis take on another animal form was impressive, but the chance to mix it with genuine dialogue gave him the opportunity to pour real character into the beast.

The parental figure that he became was honest and loveable despite his short temper, and it made for an outstanding contrasting performance to how we have traditionally seen the character portrayed.