Leading actor is made an honorary doctor by a Lancashire university

He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith when he took to the stage at this year's graduation ceremony.

Serkis, a former graduate of Lancaster, has taken leading roles in some of cinema’s biggest movie franchises.

A pioneer of performance capture, his roles as Gollum (Lord of the Rings), Supreme Leader Snoke (Star Wars) and Caesar (Planet of the Apes) are legendary.

His first acting role was in Barrie Keefe’s Gotcha. As a member of The Dukes Theatre he took a lead role in their first Theatre-in-the-Park production in Lancaster.

He had successful stage career before movie stardom beckoned.

Most recently, the star taken to a career as a film director - serving as second unit director on The Hobbit franchise, and then his directorial debut Breathe, through his company, The Imaginarium.

Andy remains a leading innovator in CGI and performance capture, including through directing Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018).