Not surprisingly, at one point while filming Venom: Let There Be Carnage Woody Harrelson wanted director Andy Serkis to do the voice for the character of Carnage. Harrelson was clearly aware of the hype for the character, as fans had been looking forward to a live-action adaptation of Carnage almost since the character’s creation. And who better to provide an interesting voice to match the stunning visual look than Andy Serkis?
For those who might not be in the know, Andy Serkis rose to worldwide fame for his work performing and voicing the break-out CGI character of Smeagol/Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since then, he has been a go-to for voice-acting and motion capture performances, including roles in Peter Jackson’s King Kong, the updated Planet of the Apes franchise, and the Star Wars sequel trilogy, to name a few. He has a gift for inhabiting unique characters and creating voices and movements that translate well to CGI, hence why Harrelson would immediately think of Serkis while deciding on what to do about Carnage’s voice.
While speaking to Comicbook.com, Harrelson explains his initial want for Serkis to do the voice of Carnage for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. After explaining his nervousness about creating a voice for Carnage, Harrelson says that in the end, he is very pleased that he voiced it himself. He went on explain how it was Serkis who pushed him to do it. Read what Harrelson said below:
"It was great. I really enjoyed it...It's wild, because in a way, you're playing two characters in one. So there was a lot of discussion about the voice and also discussions with Tom, but obviously with Andy [Serkis], who directed it. And I just kept messing with the voice, and I was thinking to myself, 'Who's going to know the difference, if Andy Serkis did the voice, who's a master of voices? Why don't you do it, Andy?' And no, he was insistent that I do it, but I really... I like how it turned. Obviously, effects are put on the voice, but I really like how it all turned out."
Luckily for both Harrelson and returning star Tom Hardy, Andy Serkis is a treasure trove of experience and helpfulness when it comes to bringing digital creations like Carnage and Venom to life. When asked about both actors performing voices for their symbiote counterparts on set, Serkis stated, “Yeah, I mean, it was imperative that we could have both so we knew the timings, that we knew how to frame.” Which is why Serkis is a master at this kind of work, as he knows how helpful it is for the rest of the actors to be able to hear the actual voice of the characters to play off while performing their own lines.
Regardless of the reception of Harrelson’s take on Carnage’s voice, it seems like there is a lot of fan excitement for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. To see two massively popular villains (well, one is an anti-hero) from the Spider-Man comics square off on the big-screen will be intriguing, though many are still wondering whether this will finally be the Sony film that gets to tie somehow into the MCU. If the Venom series ends up being a trilogy, could the final film at last have him either facing off against, or working alongside, his greatest frenemy, Spider-Man?
SOURCE: Comicbook.com
