Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis: Surprising way they got together, and their nepo-baby children Ruby, Louis and Sonny
Sonny Ashbourne Serkis is currently playing Sam in Channel 5 thriller The Game
Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis are couple goals, and their acting legacy doesn’t just end with them – their three children have all followed them into showbusiness.
Forget Hollywood marriages like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Zendaya and Tom Holland… Lorraine and Andy are known for having an unshowy, low-key relationship. And it’s one that’s lasted more than 35 years. Not a lot of showbiz couples can say that…
Both are famous in their own right, although their nepo-baby offspring may well overtake them one day. Just this week, middle son Sonny takes a leading role in the cast of Channel 5 thriller The Game.
Here’s a timeline of Lorraine Ashbourne and Any Serkis’ relationship, and a look at their three children Ruby, Louis and Sonny.
How did Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne meet?
This is a cute story. Fellow actors Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne met on the theatre circuit in the 80s. They were both cast in the 1989 production of She Stoops to Conquer at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.
Cast as warring couple Kate Hardcastle and Tony Lumpkin, their characters were on the verge of breaking up. While rehearsing the play, Andy and Lorraine decided to go on a date staying entirely in character. Improvising the scenes all night, they even shared their first kiss as their characters that very evening.
Coincidentally, both actors were freshly out of relationships, and life imitated art as the pair fell in love during the production, which ran from December 1989 to February 1990.
The couple have subsequently appeared on stage together in other productions, including Shakespeare’s Othello. Of course, both Lorraine and Andy are now hugely famous actors.
What are they famous for?
The Lord of the Rings fans will know Andy Serkis, 62, was Gollum in the trilogy, as well as Caesar in Planet of the Apes, Kong in King Kong, and Snoke in Star Wars. As well as bringing these characters to life, he’s famous for his roles in Little Dorrit, The Batman, and Andor. Avengers fans will know him as Ulysses Klaue.
TVGuide.co.uk readers will know Lorraine Ashbourne very well. She’s a very familiar face on our TV screens. Drama fans will know the actress, 65, for her roles in Playing the Field, City Central, Clocking Off, Unforgotten, Jericho, and The Interceptor.
She’s played Daphne Sparrow in the brilliant Sherwood in both series, but can also bring the laughs, having played Karen in I Hate Suzie, and Joan in comedy Alma’s Not Normal.
More recently, Lorraine played drummer Jess in Riot Women, Mrs Varley in Bridgerton, and Molly Marshall in After the Flood.
Is Lorraine Ashbourne married to Andy Serkis?
After getting together in 1989, the pair eventually married on July 22, 2002, in Italy. Lorraine and Andy got married in a 12th century Romanesque church, 20km south of Florence. The festivities were held in a castle near Fiesole, in the hills overlooking Tuscany.
Talking about the event, Andy said in the 2003 documentary Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic: “It was the most fantastic day. Over a hundred of our friends and family had flown over and we all stayed in villas near Gréve in the Chianti region. The partying went on for days. It totally exceeded our expectations.
“We didn’t want it to end, but rather appropriately our ‘honeymoon’ was actually to be a rehearsal room at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, where we had met 13 years previously. We were about to start rehearsing Othello, directed by Braham Murray. I would be playing Iago, with Lorraine as his wife Emelia.”
The couple have now been married for 24 years, and live in Crouch End in London.
How many children do Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis have?
Lorraine and Andy share three children together and, perhaps predictably, have all inherited their parents’ love of performing.
Daughter Ruby was born in 1998, with brothers Sonny and Louis following in 2000 and 2004 respectively. The children are now 28, 26, and 22. Serkis starred alongside Ruby as father and daughter in the 2020 Netflix series The Letter for the King. Meanwhile, Louis voiced Bhoot in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. His father Andy directed the film and co-starred as Baloo.
Eldest daughter Ruby began as a child star, appearing in the film Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, in which her dad Andy played Ian Dury. She went on to portray a young Hobbit in the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (also starring her father), Janine in Off the Page: Groove Is in the Heart, and Rosie in the 2015 TV movie Cider with Rosie. Ruby is also famous for her roles in National Treasure, The Serpent, Becoming Elizabeth, and Shardlake. More recently, she’s played Emily Wright in I, Jack Wright series 1, Agnes in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, and Tanya Mironova in Star City.
Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis’ youngest child Louis also started as a child actor, appearing in the The Hobbit. He’s best known for playing Robert in Tom Hardy series Taboo, Sheridan Smith’s son Noah Powell in No Return, and Martin Clunes’ son Johnny Williams in Out There. More recently, he played Hugo in teen drama Wild Cherry, and ill-fated Tom in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
Who is Sonny Ashbourne Serkis – aka Sam in The Game – related to?
Sonny Asbourne Serkis, middle son of Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis, is currently playing Sam in Channel 5 thriller The Game.
Like his siblings, he began acting young, and was just 16 when he first appeared in the 2010 film Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll opposite his dad Andy, and sister Ruby.
He’s since played Prince Edward in The White Queen, Paul Price in The Casual Vacancy, Isak in Young Wallander, and Martin in The Witcher.
In 2024, he won his – arguably – most notable role to date when he played Evans in Masters of the Air. More recently, Sonny has played Joshua Quinn in Ellis series 2, and Dexter Sutton in Grantchester.
