Oscar-Worthy: Performance Capture and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

It’s a good time to be Andy Serkis. Just this week, we heard the Lord of the Rings and King Kong star as the first voice in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser. Even before fans get to experience him in a galaxy far, far away, however, he’ll be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and is currently hard at work on his first full directorial debut, Warner Bros. Pictures’ 2016 adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book! Before all of that, though, Serkis may be looking at some attention from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences with 20th Century Fox asking that some consideration be paid to his incredible performance as Caesar in this year’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Although, to date, no actor has ever been nominated for a performance capture role, Serkis has proven his wholly transformative talent time and time again on the big screen. In an exclusive video conversation with ComingSoon.net, Serkis joins co-star Toby Kebbell and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves for a behind-the-scenes look at how performance capture works and how it’s changing the face of filmmaking. Reeves also drops a few clues about the future of the franchise, including his thoughts on how Serkis could continue to appear even beyond what he calls “The Caesar Cycle.”

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is available today on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D. If you missed it, be sure to check out our recent look at The 10 Best Motion Capture Performances.