So far we’ve seen a number of people cast to play human characters in the upcoming Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – including Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Keri Russell and Gary Oldman. Today comes word of the first actor who will join the returning Andy Serkis to portray one of the ape characters in the film – Judy Greer.
Vulture is the first to report that the actress will be getting into a motion-capture suit in order to play Cornelia, an ape who could be a possible love interest to Serkis’s Caesar. She’ll be replacing dancer Devyn Dalton, who played the character’s brief appearance in 2011’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.
I have to confess that I am a bit puzzled by this casting. Greer is probably best known for her comedic turn on Arrested Development or her numerous supporting roles in romantic comedies, not anything that would indicate a penchant for the more physical, dramatic role that this will undoubtedly entail. But Serkis himself must see something in her abilities. The two co-starred in the romcom 13 Going on 30 and it was Serkis who encouraged her to go out for the role.
Greer won’t have much research to do for the role, as she tells Vulture that her husband is a Planet Of The Apes uber-fan.
I married a man who … I’m gonna use the word obsessed. He is obsessed with Planet of the Apes. We had a chimp husband-and-wife cake topper at our wedding. At the cocktail hour, we played Planet of the Apes and Rise of the Planet of the Apes on two separate televisions in the bar area. And on the wedding gift I bought him, a vintage Rolex, I had it engraved, ‘Ape shall not kill ape.’ I was then told that, technically, it’s ‘Ape shall never kill ape,’ but there wasn’t enough space for engraving purposes.
