Celebrity Birthday of the Day – April 20

Andy Serkis might not look too familiar, but that’s because his most famous performances have been accomplished using motion-capture technology. First, he helped Peter Jackson set the tone for all motion-capture to come in The Lord of the Rings trilogy as Gollum. Then, he teamed up with Peter Jackson again to play the title role in King Kong. Most people don’t appreciate the amount of effort that went into those two performances, but Andy Serkis is responsible for single-handedly breathing life into those two otherwise 2-dimensional characters. That heart, that emotion, that sparkle in the eye – that was Serkis. You can also see him in person in 13 Going on 30, The Prestige, The Escapist, and Inkheart. And look for him reprising his role as Gollum in the upcoming Hobbit films, as well as playing an ape once again in an upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel called Rise of the Apes.