Andy Serkis: His 8 Best Performances

Serkis' greatest work to-date arguably comes from one of the most unexpected of places.

When it was announced that Serkis would be starring as an ape in a Planet of the Apes prequel film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a great many people were skeptical. For starters, the Apes franchise had been on a downhill slope and pretty much dead for years. But more pressingly, the original film was renowned for its practical effects, so transitioning to motion-capture felt like a strange move.

But Rise came out and blew everyone away. Serkis' performance as Caesar stole the show and immediately ushered in a brand new era of Apes films. With writer/director Matt Reeves onboard for the final two installments of the trilogy, he and Serkis refocused the story more directly on Caesar as a character and crafted two of the best sci-fi films of the last decade with Dawn and War.

By the time the franchise reaches War, Serkis had completely disappeared within Caesar. His performance was so invested and so emotionally-driven that Caesar became a living, breathing character all his own. War earned him his most acclaim ever and a fair amount of rallying cries for him to be nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Rightfully so.