Andy Serkis talks ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ themes, burying himself in Caesar
Another chapter in the Planet of the Apes franchise arrives this summer and star Andy Serkis discusses Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, praises director Matt Reeves
“It sets up a world where you’re finally in a beautiful, utopian Garden of Eden,” explains Serkis in his interview with Dread Central, “that is suddenly shattered in a violent and dramatic way.”
“They are resourceful, they can build aqueducts, they have plentiful food supplies, they respect each other as different species: gorilla, orangutan, chimpanzee can all speak equally and communicate equally. Until the arrival of human beings…”
Serkis returns in a motion capture role as the leader Caesar noting the experience is “…”about being able to completely bury yourself in the character and tell about the human condition. Also to have the liberty as an actor to portray a character so far away from yourself and yet so close to yourself- it’s a magical combination. Then when you have an actor’s director like Matt (Reeves) working on it, he was so the right person for the job, as was Rupert Wyatt on the first movie.”
Dawn takes place years after the Simian flu outbreak has decimated the humans and Serkis acknowledges the challenge of doing the Apes films.
“You could go so wrong with a Planet of the Apes reboot; you could make it melodramatic, you could make it campy, you could fall into so many traps with it. But what we all wanted to do, and what Matt loved about writing Planet of the Apes, was its honesty, and the emotional center of it. It is a film that is about family as well as empathy and prejudices, and those are things that surround us on a daily basis.”
Check out the full interview HERE
Dawn stars Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Serkis, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Judy Greer.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens in 3D on July 11th.
