Dawn of the Planet of the Apes star Andy Serkis is making the press rounds and while his latest performance as Caesar is surely something to discuss, it’s his work elsewhere that’s getting the attention for the time being.
First is his conversation with SciFiNow discussing Star Wars: Episode VII, of which he’s a cast member. Discussing the project and the way he came to be involved Serkis said:
It’s extraordinary. I grew up with Star Wars and was a massive fan of the original films. I never imagined in a million years that I’d be engaging with this. It’s just come about so organically.
J.J. Abrams and I met, and we just had this incredible kind of vibe between us. He said, ‘You’d fit really well in this universe,’ and I said, ‘I think I probably could.’ We’re working very closely, as I say, in two ways: the Imaginarium [Serkis’ company] is providing all of the performance characters, and I myself am playing a character in it.
I’m thrilled, deeply excited. Sitting at that read-through the other day was just extraordinary. It was an amazing event; being with the original cast was just incredible. I just think the script is so wonderful, and both the old and the newbies in the cast are just so thrilled and excited to get together.
In the meantime, Serkis also spoke with Variety about his time with director Joss Whedon and star Mark Ruffalo on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron where we already knew he was working with Ruffalo when it came to the motion capture work on the Hulk, but it’s also revealed he has a role in the film. What is the role and will we actually see his face? “I’m not at liberty to mention,” Serkis said when asked. Obviously.
While both Star Wars and Avengers 2 won’t hit theaters until 2015, Serkis can next be seen in Planet of the Apes in July and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in December.