Andy Serkis monkeys around in Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Aug 14 2011 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

HANDY Serkis must wonder whether audiences will ever get to see his real face again on screen.

But the master of ‘performance capture’ work, who’s played Gollum and King Kong, still gets to act his socks off in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, even though he’s playing a chimpanzee.

As director Rupert Wyatt points out: “Andy Serkis is our generation’s Charlie Chaplin. By that I mean he’s one of the very few actors around who has fully embraced visual effects technology because he completely understands the full potential of what it can achieve.

“I think some actors are intimidated by performance capture because they think it’s separating their performance from the actual reality of the film, when quite the opposite is true. Andy understands that every little nuance – every breath, every little muscle movement that he gives on camera is visual exposition.”

Andy says: “Caesar is one of the most formidable roles I’ve undertaken, both physically and emotionally, but it was irresistible to me.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t feel like a visual effects-driven film. It feels like a powerful emotional story with a big backdrop. The action and spectacle work seamlessly with the drama. And that’s why I think it’s really powerful – because the ‘wows’ aren’t in your face.”