Andy Serkis Has a Surprising Answer When Asked His Favorite Christopher Nolan Film

Andy Serkis has spent decades defying what it means to be a movie star. He is the actor behind Gollum, Caesar, and King Kong, roles that required extraordinary physical and emotional commitment while deliberately keeping his face off screen. Yet his body of work in front of the camera, unencumbered by motion capture, is just as worth examining, and right now he is opening up about the film within that category he treasures most.

Christopher Nolan has been making features that get people talking since 2000, when he released ‘Memento’. In the years that followed, his filmography stretched to cover Best Picture-nominated spectacles like ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Oppenheimer,’ as well as the phenomenon of ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy. With a catalog that expansive, debates over his best film are a staple of film discourse, but those conversations tend to orbit the same handful of obvious choices.

Serkis, however, lands somewhere far less expected. In an interview with Variety, he named ‘The Prestige’ as one of his favorite films, describing it as a rare title he is genuinely comfortable watching back, noting it stands apart from most of his own work in that respect. That kind of candor from an actor about their own filmography is unusual, and it says a great deal about the experience of making the film.

‘The Prestige’ is a 2006 science fiction psychological thriller co-written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan, adapted from Christopher Priest’s 1995 novel. Set in Victorian London, it stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as rival stage magicians competing to create the ultimate illusion, with a supporting cast that includes Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and David Bowie as the inventor Nikola Tesla. Serkis plays Mr. Alley, Tesla’s sharp and slightly shady assistant, putting him side by side with Bowie for some of the film’s most quietly electric scenes.

That proximity to Bowie is clearly central to why the film holds such a place in Serkis’ memory. Nolan had specifically sought out Bowie for the Tesla role, wanting someone with an extraordinary presence who was not a conventional film star. Bowie initially declined, but Nolan flew to New York to pitch the role in person and persuaded him in a matter of minutes. For Serkis, getting to work alongside a figure of that magnitude left a mark that has clearly not faded.

‘The Prestige’ was produced on a budget of around 40 million dollars and earned approximately 109.6 million dollars globally, modest numbers compared to Nolan’s later films. Critical reception was mixed at the time, landing at 77 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience enthusiasm, however, tells a different story, with its Popcornmeter sitting at 92 percent based on over 250,000 ratings. That loyal following has kept the film in conversation long after its initial release, and Serkis’ endorsement is bound to push it back into the spotlight.

With Serkis currently preparing to return as Gollum in ‘The Hunt for Gollum,’ which he is also directing, his profile is as high as it has been in years. His championing of ‘The Prestige’ arrives at a moment when a new audience is paying close attention to everything he says and does. If you have always considered ‘The Prestige’ one of Nolan’s more overlooked efforts, share your thoughts in the comments on whether you think it deserves to finally claim its spot at the top of his filmography.