Andy Serkis's Character in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Revealed

Andy Serkis on the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ set (StarWars.com)

Surprise! Andy Serkis is once again playing a motion-capture character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Today, StarWars.com published a previously unseen photograph of Serkis on set, an outtake from Annie Leibovitz’s Vanity Fair shoot. The picture shows Serkis outfitted with motion-capture gear for his role in the seventh Star Wars film. And what, exactly, is that role? For the first time, we know his name: It’s Supreme Leader Snoke. As for what he’s the supreme leader of, and whether his loyalties lie with the Sith or the Jedi, that’s a reveal for another day.

Although Serkis is best known for his groundbreaking motion-capture roles — including Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movies — he has consistently dodged questions about whether he’ll be animated in The Force Awakens. “I can’t say a single thing about that. I’m sorry! These things will all come out in the fullness of time, I promise,” the British actor told Entertainment Weekly in December. He did, however, shoot down a rumor that he would play multiple characters in the film.

Serkis isn’t the only Force Awakens star to get a CG makeover. The Vanity Fair cover story showed Lupita Nyong’o wearing nearly identical performance-capture gear to shoot scenes as her character, the pirate Maz Kanata. And while we may not know what these galaxy dwellers will look like, we’ve at least heard Snoke’s voice: He’s the one doing the ominous voiceover (“There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?”) in the first teaser trailer released in December. Watch it below!