Wes Ball explains how the Caesar star still had a big role to play in the new film \u2013\u00a0despite not starring in it this time around. <\/p>
Andy Serkis might not be reprising his role as Caesar in the latest instalment of the Planet of the Apes<\/a> franchise \u2013 but the motion capture pioneer still had a vital role to play in the new movie.<\/p>\n The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes picks up roughly 300 years after Caesar\u2019s death at the end of 2017\u2019s War for the Planet of the Apes and introduces us to a new bunch of primates played by actors including Owen Teague, Kevin Durand and Peter Macon.<\/p>\n Serkis was on hand as a consultant on the movie and also provided training for the cast to give them some expert tips on how to work with motion capture and inhabit their ape characters, something which director Wes Ball said was vital.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, we\u2019re giant fans of that previous movie and what [Serkis] did and what Matt [Reeves] and Rupert [Wyatt] did with the previous three movies,\u201d he said during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also we had Rick [Jaffa] and Amanda [Silver], who wrote the first Rise movie and were producers on the last trilogy, they were writers and producers on this movie. So there was some continuity, just in the DNA, the creative DNA of this thing.\u201d<\/p> He added: \u201cBut Andy\u2019s such a super generous dude. And obviously, he\u2019s like, the godfather to us and the godfather of apes, you know. And so yeah, it was fantastic to have his support and his wisdom as we kind of move forward.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd for all of us, we\u2019d never made this kind of movie before, you know what I mean? Even the actors \u2013 they haven\u2019t done this before, so it was a steep learning curve, but because they [Serkis and co] did it, they figured it out, we got to kind of lean on them and their shoulders to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Serkis\u2019s tips to the actors came during a six week \u201cape school\u201d process, which was headed up by movement coach Alain Gauthier and which was described by star Owen Teague as a \u201cbeautiful\u201d process.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started with like, kind of, movement work to help us get more in our bodies,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd then we started looking at anatomy and you know, ape movement, studying that.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnd then we started really getting into who these characters were and, you know, the physical natures of them, how their characters were reflected in their bodies, and their voices.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it just became a beautiful kind of rehearsal process for us to\u2026 we\u2019d go on these extended improvs, where we would just get lost in these\u2026 you know, it started out as an exercise or a game and it would grow into this thing where we just all would become apes for an hour or so!\u201d<\/p>\n\n