Star Wars: Andy Serkis to play Supreme Leader Snoke
Serkis will play the mysterious role in The Force Awakens using motion-capture technology
It has been announced that Andy Serkis will play the role of Supreme Leader Snoke in J J Abrams’s upcoming Star Wars film The Force Awakens. Although he has long been a known cast member of the film, details of the character Serkis would play had until now been kept quiet.
Now, fans have a name to attach to the voice which opens the first teaser trailer, ominously announcing that “there has been an awakening. Have you felt it?” Serkis revealed that the voice was his last year.
A photo accompanying an interview with photographer Annie Leibovitz on the Star Wars website features Serkis wearing motion-capture gear to play the role. It is therefore fairly probable that we will not be seeing him in person in the film. Aside from the fact that the character will most likely be a digital creation, information regarding Supreme Leader Snokes’s species, let alone appearance, is yet to be released.
Acting using motion-capture technology is Serkis's speciality: he donned mo-cap suits to portray Gollum in both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series, and to play the alpha ape Caesar in Rise Of The Planet of the Apes.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released in December
