Andy Serkis has single-handedly brought the art of performance capture to the fore; an art he continues in the rebooted Planet of the Apes saga as Caesar, the leader of the species of highly intelligent apes spawned from a scientific experiment gone awry.
The experiment led to the almost complete wipe-out of the human race, and Caesar attempted to keep the peace with the few survivors - but it was a peace that was always tenuous.
The actor says that taking this journey with Caesar, now for the third time in War for the Planet of the Apes, “has been the most rewarding acting challenge in my life”. He adds: “To be able to play such a complex and complete character as Caesar all the way from infancy to this most profound juncture in his life as a leader has been incredible.”
As he always does when approaching a role, Serkis took it as a personal challenge to bring a visceral, perhaps one might even say “human” truth to a character that is not human, yet one who embodies emotions and situations to which human audiences can relate.
Serkis saw his first task as revealing the deep vulnerability that can be found underneath the ape’s imposing physical form. “As War begins, the ape community is broken up,” explains Serkis. “Caesar is still trying to keep it together, but he bears the deep, painful burdens of a leader struggling to galvanise a divided people. Caesar has always been torn between the ape and human worlds. He does not want to see the destruction of either species. But he’s an ape, and their survival is clearly on the line.”
In War we witness the climax of the apes’ development to higher intelligence. And so, Caesar’s increasing eloquence allows Serkis to etch more into his persona. “It has really been amazing to be able to climb inside the mind of a being who is transforming on every single level. Physically in this film, Caesar is much more upright and he uses his hands a lot more now, so he’s more like a human being in ape skin. But as his intelligence and abilities have grown, the things he feels and remembers have become more daunting to him.”
Serkis may be inspired by Caesar because he is a creation founded in humanity. The events in War reflect many moments of conflict throughout human history - but seen through the point of view of apes.
“I think perhaps the playing out of our most fundamental human struggles through the eyes of apes allows the audience to connect to human emotions on a more visceral level,” Serkis comments. “We know the Great Apes are our closest cousins - they are 97 per cent the same as us - and yet we perceive this world of difference. Perhaps by giving them a voice and seeing the world through their different eyes, we can stand outside ourselves and really see ourselves under the microscope as we haven’t before.”