Claim: The Hobbit films starred an actor.

Andrew Clement Serkis -LRB- born 20 April 1964 -RRB- is an English film actor and director . He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting , animation and voice work for such computer-generated characters as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy -LRB- 2001 -- 2003 -RRB- and The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey -LRB- 2012 -RRB- , King Kong in the eponymous 2005 film , Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot series -LRB- 2011 -- present -RRB- , Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg 's The Adventures of Tintin -LRB- 2011 -RRB- and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars : The Force Awakens -LRB- 2015 -RRB- . Upcoming performance capture roles include Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes -LRB- 2017 -RRB- , Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars : The Last Jedi -LRB- 2017 -RRB- , and Baloo in Jungle Book -LRB- 2018 -RRB- .   Serkis ' film work in motion capture has been critically acclaimed . He has received an Empire Award , and two Saturn Awards for his motion-capture acting . He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of serial killer Ian Brady in the British television film Longford -LRB- 2006 -RRB- and was nominated for a BAFTA for his portrayal of new wave and punk rock musician Ian Dury in the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll -LRB- 2010 -RRB- . In 2015 , he began playing Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe beginning with Avengers : Age of Ultron . Serkis has his own motion capture workshop , The Imaginarium Studios in London , which he will use for his directorial debut , Jungle Book .