8 Roles That Prove Andy Serkis Is The Most Important Actor Of His Generation

6. Ian Brady - Longford (2006)

Despite having built his reputation on motion capture and special effects wizardry in front of the camera, Serkis has appeared more often as a regular human than as a demented shrivelled hobbit or a gigantic gorilla. One of his relatively minor roles was that of convicted serial killer Ian Brady in the HBO/Granada film Longford, starring Jim Broadbent as the titular Labour Party crusader. Serkis's Brady is simultaneously restrained and over-the-top, by turns coldly menacing and nearly gleefully hammy. Longford concerns itself with moral ambiguity, the capacity for change, and the ethical worth of placing trust in those who have committed criminal acts - but of all the characters, Ian Brady is perhaps the one most clearly aligned with the wrong side. Unlike almost any other character Serkis has portrayed yet, Brady is definitely the bad guy. Though largely unseen and nearly impossible to find unless you really hunt for it, Longford is definitely worth watching. Despite his small role, Serkis's sinister turn earned him a nomination for both a Golden Globe and a British Academy Television Award.