Andy Serkis has revealed he had no idea what his character looked like while filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The Hobbit star – an expert at motion capture roles after playing Gollum, King Kong and Caesar in the Planet Of The Apes films – said even he was a little daunted by the challenge of bringing Supreme Leader Snoke to life.

He told Empire: “It was quite an unusual situation.

“I worked specifically with Domhnall Gleeson and with Adam Driver. My first day was basically standing on a 25-foot podium doing Lord Snoke without the faintest idea what he looked like… or in fact who he was! I was very high up, totally on my own, away from everybody else, but acting with them.”

Although Snoke’s appearance is one of the many closely-guarded secrets on the set of the seventh film in the hit sci-fi franchise, Andy did have some insight into his alter-ego.

He said: “He is severely damaged. Although he’s a powerful leader, he comes across as vulnerable. Very scarred and disfigured.

“We used sort of a ‘Kongolizer’ method of having sound come out of speakers to give a sense of scale and distance for the character. So it was very challenging and scary, in fact probably one of my most scary film experiences I’ve ever had.”

Still from the Star Wars YouTube full trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
(Star Wars/YouTube/PA)

Fans wanting to learn more of Snoke may have to wait until JJ Abrams’s film is released in cinemas on December 17.