“You can’t pretend to be an ape”: Andy Serkis’ Billion Dollar Advice to ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Lead is Exactly Why He’s Dubbed the Franchise’s Godfather
The Planet of the Apes series has been the favorite of audiences for a long time with its unique portrayal of a world where the apes are the rulers. After the award-winning trilogy directed by Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves and an amazing performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar, the franchise now begins a new chapter, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
The torch is now passed to a new set of filmmakers and actors. Referred to as one of the “godfathers of the franchise” by new director Wes Ball, Serkis’ knowledge and experience are now a guiding light for the new creative team.
As the new movie is making its move, the lead actor Owen Teague, who portrays ape Noa in the film, shared some insights and behind-the-scenes talks that shaped the personality of the new installment in the franchise.
Andy Serkis’ Advice to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Lead Owen Teague
Andy Serkis undoubtedly gave Caesar a life with his performance and made him the fan-favorite ape. In the interviews with GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast, Owen Teague revealed important advice given by Serkis about internalizing the character that made him play the role of Noa easily. He said,
“He (Andy Serkis) helped me remove a little bit of the pressure from the fact that I was playing an ape – that’s his biggest piece of advice with performance capture, you are still just playing a character. It’s not actually that different from normal live action work – you are moving and speaking differently, but you still do all the same stuff that you do with every other character. That is what he stressed to me, which was crucial to keep in mind.”
Moreover, Serkis also advised the director of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes about bringing out the character in his actors in the best way possible. In the same interview, Wes Ball said,
“His big thing was on the actor front – that you can’t pretend to be an ape. You know, as soon as you do that, it’s going to be fake. And so, we had to spend a lot of time working on that so it became like instinct, where they could just kind of fall into that place and behave like apes.”
Ball explained how being in the present and going by instincts helped actors portray apes much better than thinking about acting like an ape. Moreover, Matt Reeves, who directed the last two movies of the franchise, also gave some important advice to Ball, which became crucial while filming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Also read: Andy Serkis Fans are Not Ready for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Upda
Plot of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place 300 years after the epic battle that resulted in Caesar’s death. In this post-apocalyptic world, apes are the dominant species, while humans are just mute scavengers. The story involves a young ape Noa who goes on a dangerous trip that will make him question the past and impact what is ahead of him for both the apes and the humans.
Noa’s father gets killed and his mother gets abducted during an attack by apes who follow Proximus Caesar, who wants to find human technology to rule the world. He then goes on to find his family and, on the way, meets an orangutan named Raka and a human girl named Mae, who has her own plans in mind.
According to Variety, the early box office reports show that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has been liked by the audience. On the opening weekend, it made $56.5 million domestically and $129 million worldwide. The franchise’s future seems secure with these figures.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was released on May 10, 2024, and is now running in theaters.
