Luther: The Fallen Sun villain Andy Serkis on his most disturbing scene: 'That made me sit up'
David Robey could be watching us right now.
Luther: The Fallen Sun's terrifying villain, played by Andy Serkis, is a man who harvests people's personal information and manipulates them using their shame. It's twisted, personal, and what drew Serkis to the role.
"When I first read [the script], it was certainly not what I was looking for," Serkis admits to EW, saying he found it difficult to engage with the very dark character initially. The actor says he came around because of how Robey's tactics tap into society's relationship with the internet. "The debate of what the internet is doing to us as a species. Algorithms and AI [are] so present in our lives and yet it's like a specter we've almost forgotten is there," Serkis explains.
John Wilson/Netflix Andy Serkis as David Robey in 'Luther: The Fallen Sun.'
Serkis sees his character as "vampiric" in the way he devours the information from the online footprints, computers, and phones of his victims to manipulate them in horrific ways. David burrows so deeply into the lives of his victims that how he presents to the world is a reflection of those he stalks.
"He basically takes everything," says Serkis. "You imagine watching all these screens with different people's lives saying 'I like that person's shirt.'"
Robey is a wealthy man, but so much of him is just taking from the identities of others because his modus operandi is to know his victims incredibly well. While the cyber stalker is adept at manipulation, Serkis sees his chameleon character as a bad actor.
"There's no sort of flair at becoming different characters," he says. "[His impersonations] lack embodiment because he doesn't have the ability to do that because he's not an empathetic person. He's a psychopath." Essentially, Robey can dress the part of a homeless man to blend in or enter the life of the grieving mother of one of his victims, but they are hollow shells.
The closest we get to seeing David be himself is his bone-chilling interactions with his wife. She's confined to her home after surviving a fire and gets visits from her husband to get tormented by him. "It's a very rare glimpse of him because this is someone who actually knows him to a certain degree. Although it is a one way relationship," Serkis explains.
The standout scene where Robey sings "I'm Coming Out" with her to celebrate his biggest act of mayhem is the one that grabbed Serkis' attention when he read the script. "That made me sit up," he says about the disturbing scene.
John Wilson/Netflix Andy Serkis as David Robey in 'Luther: The Fallen Sun.'
David terrified his victims, but the character's final battle with John Luther (Idris Elba) was a frightening one for Serkis. "Fighting underwater is really scary," he says about his character's climactic death scene.
Even though there are protocols in place and a brilliant team, fighting inside of a vehicle that is underwater was a daunting experience for Serkis. "Up to a certain extent as an actor you feel immortal, but we all know things can go wrong," he says. Thankfully, the only person in serious danger was David.
The experience has opened his mind about what David did says about the internet and privacy. Ultimately, Serkis feels he's done his job if David made them feel something, even if it's horror in his character's actions.
"I'm glad I've played this character because it's an investigation of this world," he says looking back on the role.
Luther: The Fallen Sun is available to stream on Netflix.
Related content:
