'It's quite a big challenge, to tell a story in 60 seconds'
Best known for his work as Gollum and as King Kong, Andy Serkis is now moving into film direction — his first feature, Freezing Time, will be released next year. As a new director, he’s lending his name to a project called 60 Seconds of Fame, a short film initiative by the folks at BAFTA. Neil Davey caught up with Andy for a chat about it.
60 Seconds of Fame … what made you lend your name?
What I love about the internet is that it’s a kind of democratic platform for people to show their wares, their abilities, and I think BAFTA and Orange are really acknowledging that. Why should it be restricted to the film industry and people who have been / can afford to go to film schools? There’s this immense wealth of talent out there, with acting and music, all forms of expression — and this pinpoints this visually literate culture and makes it accessible.
What’s it all about then?
Basically, it’s a competition — for want of a better word — to inspire people to respond to a theme, Unite, and to make a film about that. It’s quite a big challenge, to tell a story in 60 seconds. It’s a very hard thing to do. It’s hard enough to tell the whole story you want to get across in 90 minutes and a lot of filmmakers struggle with that, and more so with the 15 minute short. Not many people do that successfully. But 60 seconds?!
The good thing is, you don’t need expensive kit, you just have to be willing to step up to the mark. It’s not about how much money you have, how much budget there is. The purity of story-telling, that essence, the sharing of the passion. I think that’s a really important thing to do.
You sound quite energised by it all. So, are you going to enter the competition under pseudonym?
I wish I had the time to! The deadline’s the 4th of January and I’d love to get into it, but I really don’t have the time to do it justice. I think it’s a big and serious challenge. But I don’t think I should enter. I’m on the judging panel and I’d see to it I’d win.
Is directing something you’ve always planned to do?
I’ve been thinking about it for a while and last year I got involved in directing: I did some short films and a theatre production. And I got involved in the directing the performance in a video game. I think before Lord of the Rings, I was gearing up to be a director but working with Peter Jackson — he’s a total inspiration. I want to be able to tell stories through other ways, not just my character arc.
Have you found yourself watching films differently, wondering how they established that shot etc?
I think you learn all the time. If you’re an actor, you watch other people act, if you’re a costume designer or a make-up artist, you study them. You always know if you’re watching a good film though as you’ll forget all of the above and get caught up in the moment and don’t notice. So that’s the standard.
You’ve spent a lot of time in heavy make-up or as a CGI creation. Do you get recognised in your own right?
I get recognised quite a lot, which is nice but I can still go to the supermarket. If people are into King Kong or Lord of the Rings, they’ll have probably watched the extras and seen me on those. It’s nice to be appreciated ... in healthy amounts.