After playing ape hero Caesar in Matt Reeves’ Planet of the Apes movies, Andy Serkis has reunited with the writer/director for his new take on the Dark Knight. In The Batman, Serkis is a troubled version of the caped crusader’s butler Alfred, who struggles to connect with the bitter, brooding Bruce (Robert Pattinson) that goes out every night.
When we caught up with Serkis he filled us in on the changed dynamic between Bruce and Alfred, where he’d like to see the character go in any sequels and whether we’d ever see a spin-off of his version of the character (with apologies to Pennyworth).
Plus, we take a look at what’s next for Serkis as a director, and how Venom: Let There Be Carnage played a big part in his Batman experience.
There are many different versions of the Batman story – from your perspective, what would you say makes this one stand out?
I think the point at which we join the story makes it original in the sense that it’s not an origin story. And neither is it a kind of continuation of films past. It’s set in year two, when Bruce is still yet forming and becoming the Batman.
He’s on this kind of solo nihilistic journey, which doesn’t include Alfred. The relationship between Alfred and he is on shifting sands, and Alfred’s been pushed back and pushed out, and he’s struggling to kind of be the mentor that he knows he needs to be for Bruce.
So then it’s not conventional in terms of their relationship. It’s on rocky ground, and not traditionally where the Bruce Wayne/Alfred relationship is in terms of them, you know, on song and facing the foe together.
And that’s also magnified in the world that they’re in, in the Gotham that we have in our story, which is a world that that feels very contemporaneous and real. The corruption and the greed and the post-truth existence of the characters in this world is something that we can relate to, but it also exists as a huge mythic place and a huge mythic story. And there’s the thriller aspect – it’s almost a thriller that happens to be a Batman story
!["Batman"]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/02/rev-1-TBM-23876r_High_Res_JPEG-70df7b5.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"The")
Did you guys feel any pressure following up other version of the Batman story, older performances?
I think when you’re working with a script that is so comprehensively brought together and tight and knows what it is, you kind of forget all of that. We chose to forget all of the other versions and tried to identify this as a new world in itself, that will roll on into the future.
It’s like when you take on a great classic text like you’re playing a Shakespearean role, for instance. There have been 1000 Hamlets, 1000 King Lears, 1000 Othellos, but you go into it because the director and the writer has a very clear interpretation and a clear vision about how that particular story resonates with our audience today.
Had you seen other actors play Alfred, and did you channel any of those performances? Or did you have to try and block them out as well?
Yeah, I’ve seen them, and I grew up with the Batman TV series so they’ve been ingrained at various different points in my life. But of course, when you go into it, you have to pretend that this is the only one and you’re creating a brand new person, and you’re bringing yourself to that role and elements of your own personal experience in life.
Inevitably you push through those other great performances and you hone in on the one that’s relevant to tell this particular story.
!["The]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/02/TheBatmanRiddlerLair-35f0816.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"The")
Alfred’s involved a lot with Batman’s investigation in this film– if there are any sequels, would you like him to be an even bigger part of that side of Bruce’s life?
Definitely. If there were to be other films – and I think the idea is that there might be –hopefully we’d see that kind of coming together. We begin to see the thaw in this film that will lead them into other aspects of their relationship and other adventures together. Hopefully, that will be the case.
But I really do love where Matt has chosen to drop anchor in their story and sort of look at the complex, very nuanced, and subtle relationship between them. I think that’s the strength of this particular version.
Apart from sequels, we’ve also heard of at least one TV spin-off set in the Gotham police department. Could Alfred make an appearance?
Who knows? I mean, it’s all early days, but I really loved playing this character, and I would love to continue playing with it. If it felt right, and it felt appropriate, and if that was an interesting ride ahead, sure.
And maybe, if Gotham PD is a success, we get the Alfred spin-off.
Haha – we hope!
!["Venom]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2019/08/Venom-nom-nom-bacb27b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Venom")
Of course, you recently directed a superhero movie with Venom 2 – what was it like going back in front of the camera again?
Well actually, while we were making this I was in post-production on Venom. And so at night, I was editing with the team in LA. By night it was Venom, and by day I was playing Alfred.
And I loved it, actually. On the one hand, I was making a million decisions about the whole movie, and then on The Batman, I was just diving deep diving into this one person’s life. And that’s why I like going between the two, you know, I want to continue doing that. It’s like exercising sort of totally different sets of muscles and keeping everything going.
Have you scratched the superhero directing itch, or do you see more films like Venom in your future?
I have a development slate at the Imaginarium. And we’re working on lots of different projects, one of which is Animal Farm and that’s right in its sort of pre-production phase right now. That’s a project that we’ve been wanting to make for a long time. Finally, we’ve got a script, so that’s very exciting.
But to be honest, it’s really what jostles into position first. In terms of other superhero movies, if something came along that was a story that I was able to tell on that big canvas, but particularly the story spoke to me…or if I was in a position to actually originate a story in that way in those big worlds then yes, of course. I wouldn’t say no.
The Batman is in UK cinemas now. For more, check out our dedicated Movies page or our full TV Guide.