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My Pressures The Bizarrely True Story Of Actor Andy Sirkis · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: It's the way that podcasting has grown. It's not just
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  Speaker 1: is one of those. A-R-R-O-E.net. 21 different podcasts to choose from.
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• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Enjoy your exploration. Hey, dude, how are you doing today?
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  Speaker 2: I am absolutely fine and dandy. How are you doing?
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  Speaker 1: I'm fantastic, and I can't wait to share a conversation
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  Speaker 1: with you because I just love the way that you
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  Speaker 1: include your characters inside this storyline because everything that I've
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  Speaker 1: ever studied about the acting and the roles that we play,
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  Speaker 1: just to keep them alive is just so inspiring to me.
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  Speaker 1: What is it like for you who has to live
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  Speaker 1: with it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know... It's very interesting. And part of the
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  Speaker 2: reason that I sort of wanted to write the book
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  Speaker 2: in the way that I have is that I'm far
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  Speaker 2: more interested and, you know, the characters are far more
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  Speaker 2: interesting than my own personal life, which I've lived and
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  Speaker 2: I don't really need to go through again, quite frankly.
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  Speaker 2: So I wanted to write this book from their point
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  Speaker 2: of view and posit the question, you know, why did
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  Speaker 2: they choose me to play them? And I think that
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  Speaker 2: will give the audience a slightly different take on an
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  Speaker 2: actor's memoir, if you like, so that it's not just
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  Speaker 2: a bunch of stories of being on set and... you know,
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  Speaker 2: and so, so that's, that was the approach. I wanted
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  Speaker 2: it to be a creative endeavor in itself. And, um,
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  Speaker 2: and I've really, I really enjoyed the process of doing that.
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  Speaker 2: And so, so it drifts between, you know, my, my,
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  Speaker 2: my own personal life and the influences in my life and,
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  Speaker 2: and then, and growing up in sort of split between
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  Speaker 2: suburban London and, and Iraq, you know, and, and, and then,
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  Speaker 2: and then really handing it over to what, you know,
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  Speaker 2: handing it over to the, the characters to, to interrogate
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  Speaker 2: me as to why i should be right for them
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  Speaker 2: to choose me to play them.
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  Speaker 1: Did you switch writing instruments when you were switching characters
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  Speaker 1: like that because i'm a writing instrument whore i i've
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  Speaker 1: got a writing instrument for every mood every mindset and
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  Speaker 1: so to see you go through the different characters i'm
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  Speaker 1: going i wonder if he changed the writing instrument just
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  Speaker 1: like i do because that is where the personality lives
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  Speaker 1: it's almost like a muse Well, no, no, exactly.
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  Speaker 2: But the thing is, I mean, I, the, the, the
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  Speaker 2: writing instrument in terms of, in terms of tech, in
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  Speaker 2: terms of how do you, how.
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  Speaker 1: Do you, what do you mean? I'm one of those
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  Speaker 1: old fools like Shakespeare in love. I dip in the
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  Speaker 1: ink well, and I come over and I write. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I really do only because I just love that pleasure
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  Speaker 1: of just taking that time to dip, write, dip, write.
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  Speaker 2: Interesting. So character writing. Yeah, very good. Now, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I suppose I hadn't gone into that on this, but
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  Speaker 2: I did. There were moments where it was pure handwriting
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  Speaker 2: was the only way. And then there were moments where
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  Speaker 2: it was definitely keyboard for sure. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: You know this is destined for Broadway, right? Where you're
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  Speaker 1: going to bring these characters and your story to life.
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  Speaker 1: If it's not Broadway, then you've got to come to
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  Speaker 1: the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte here and really
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  Speaker 1: bring this to life because I would love to see
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  Speaker 1: you read it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I tell you what, there is also an audio
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  Speaker 2: book version of this, which I've recorded, which actually I
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  Speaker 2: think probably is marginally better than the actual, you know, well,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you can read it in different ways, but,
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  Speaker 2: but it is, the characters do definitely come to life
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  Speaker 2: and they, and you feel their, the tension and the
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  Speaker 2: arguing between them as to their different opinions about me.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it does come, it does come off the page. But,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the two strands of the story, i.e. my
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  Speaker 2: life as I go through it, and then sort of, well,
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  Speaker 2: without spoiling it for people, the journey that I go
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  Speaker 2: on with the characters, I do think is definitely worth
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  Speaker 2: listening to as well as reading.
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  Speaker 1: Please don't move. We've got more Andy Serkis on the way.
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  Speaker 1: The name of the book, My Pressure, The Bizarrely True
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  Speaker 1: Story of Andy Serkis. I love this guy. We are back.
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  Speaker 1: So did you find yourself... I mean, to me, with
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  Speaker 1: every page that I go to, I feel like that
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  Speaker 1: you were looking in the mirror. One moment you were
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  Speaker 1: looking at yourself, then you were looking at a character,
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  Speaker 1: then you would look at yourself. But I just feel
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  Speaker 1: like that you were looking in the mirror or you
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  Speaker 1: were looking deep inside your heart.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's... Well, I'm glad that you've said that,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm really... And I agree with you, because really...
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting. Actors, they're so varied, aren't they? In order
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  Speaker 2: to find my version of the truth, I kind of
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  Speaker 2: feel like I've spent my entire life kind of being
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  Speaker 2: extreme and playing extreme characters in order to find something
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  Speaker 2: that feels close to me and my own personal truth.
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  Speaker 2: And so that is exactly what looking in the... As
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  Speaker 2: you describe it as, looking in the mirror, that's... As
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  Speaker 2: I've got older, I've had this increasing desire to find
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  Speaker 2: a truthful version of myself to play. Because, you know,
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  Speaker 2: there are actors who don't move from themselves. Right. And
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  Speaker 2: there are actors who, you know, play characters that allow
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  Speaker 2: them to speak a version of the truth through that character.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm definitely the latter. And so I think... I
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  Speaker 2: think it's very astute of you to pick up on that.
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  Speaker 2: And it is about the craft, the art and craft
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  Speaker 2: of acting for me. I mean, for instance, although I've
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  Speaker 2: been on all these extreme journeys, I feel like I never,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I'm always chemically changed by having played them
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  Speaker 2: and hopefully have a better perspective, psychological and emotional kind
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  Speaker 2: of perspective on the world and all the people who
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  Speaker 2: live in it as a result of that. As a
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  Speaker 2: result of living an alternate life, you know, and that's
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  Speaker 2: that for me is has been the joy of acting
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  Speaker 2: is it's like this big empathy machine that you climb
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  Speaker 2: into and you try and understand that. humanity from different perspectives.
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  Speaker 1: But the fascinating thing about this anthony andy is the
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  Speaker 1: fact that that not only do you get to see
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  Speaker 1: your characters again through your writing but we as the
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  Speaker 1: viewer as well as the reader now we get to
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  Speaker 1: see it and we get to experience it and it's
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  Speaker 1: like we'll go back to these movies and re-watch them
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  Speaker 1: because we got to see a different side.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, that's great. I mean, that is ideal if people
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  Speaker 2: do that. I think that's very cool. And again, for me,
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  Speaker 2: that was important because I wanted this book to not
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  Speaker 2: just be a sort of self-reverential trawling through my life,
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  Speaker 2: you know, spilling my woes and worries. Although it's called
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  Speaker 2: The Bizarrely True Story of Andy Serkis, the subtitle was
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  Speaker 2: there for a reason that I have had this sort
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  Speaker 2: of strange um journey which has taken me to extreme
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  Speaker 2: places but but has as i say sort of in
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  Speaker 2: a way defined my take on things and my take
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  Speaker 2: on and philosophy on life and which is always shifting
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  Speaker 2: and changing and And I think that's why, well, hopefully,
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  Speaker 2: that's why I think people will find it engaging.
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  Speaker 1: I know that we're low on time here, but I've
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  Speaker 1: got to ask this question, only because this is the
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  Speaker 1: real reason why it inspires the hell out of me.
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  Speaker 1: It reminds me of Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe. And
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  Speaker 1: I feel like that I am talking to that character
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  Speaker 1: that's in Beautiful Mind because those characters still live inside
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  Speaker 1: your heart. And that just blows me away.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's true. You know, and I genuinely mean that.
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  Speaker 2: These characters have become my life companions. And particularly as
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  Speaker 2: people feel, hopefully from the book, you know, Caesar in
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  Speaker 2: the Planet of the Apes movies, I actually really, really like.
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  Speaker 2: mourned his passing you know and i really you know
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  Speaker 2: mourned the fact that i would never play him again
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  Speaker 2: uh having lived through you know look here we are
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  Speaker 2: as an actor to play a character from birth to
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  Speaker 2: death over the course of three movies you know whatever
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  Speaker 2: chance of that is is i can't think of another
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  Speaker 2: actor that's been through that experience through three movies from
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  Speaker 2: birth to death um So and actually, I adore the
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  Speaker 2: character of Lisa because of what he represents and his
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  Speaker 2: his desire to bring about a peaceful, harmonious existence between
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  Speaker 2: apes and humans where everyone around him is telling him
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  Speaker 2: that's possible.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you've got to come back to this show
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  Speaker 1: anytime in the future. We can break down these characters
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  Speaker 1: like you wouldn't believe and just have some fun doing.
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  Speaker 2: It, dude. Cool, man. I'd love to do that.
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  Speaker 1: Excellent. Will you be brilliant today?
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  Speaker 2: OK, sir. You too. You too, Harold. Lovely speaking with you.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Take care.