Andy Serkis has done it all. The prolific actor has changed the way we see motion-capture performances by disappearing into each of his roles. One character he brought depth and emotional nuance to was Caesar of the Planet of the Apes trilogy reboot. The actor wasn’t imitating a chimpanzee, he was was putting on a suit to become the chimp would would lead an uprising against their human oppressors.

While Serkis bid farewell to the character in 2017, his influence will continue to be felt in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as he would help a new generation tap into the primal aspects of the characters they will be playing.

The Nerds of Color joined a select group of journalists in Burbank, California, to talk to director Wes Ball about the editing process and how Serkis returned to the franchise in an unexpected way. Though it would be easy to make an offer to play a new character in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Ball, who had already worked with the actor on the cancelled Mouse Guard film adaptation, invited the actor to read lines against one of the actors.

Serkis was more than happy to help. But he didn’t just read lines against the cast. He read them as Caesar. There was no doubt that the actor could lose himself in the script. However, Ball felt that it would be wrong to bring the actor back after having played such an unforgettable character. “That time is over,” he said.

Still, that didn’t stop Ball from talking to Serkis about the shooting or about some of the ideas that the film would explore. The director showed the actor some of the concept art and how much the film would distance itself from the previous three films but still acknowledge the events of it. Some of the ideas were that the apes would talk more. So in the first three there was this progression, Rise had Caesar only saying ‘no,’ while Dawn was talking a little bit more but still communicating through sign language, and in the War the apes were talking in full on sentences. So there is this natural progression in the evolution where they would extrapolate from War while “marching towards the ’68 version.”

Serkis offered some advice about where the apes should be in the chain of the evolutionary process in character. As Caesar, Serkis told Ball, “we can’t do this.” There will be a cadence to their speech. It isn’t perfect, and the fluidity is intentionally off. So to compensate, the apes will sign. Noa’s journey is reflective of Ball’s approach to telling a new chapter in the Planet of the Apes franchise. He wanted to give audiences something that he could call his own while staying true to the spirit of the three films. And Serkis was crucial in that creative process.

For most of the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cast, the motion-capture performance technology is new to them. So by having a veteran actor like Serkis there to give them pointers would help with their own performances. “Andy is the nicest guy ever. So generous, kind, and supportive,” Ball said. “He talked to all the actors and just told them what he had learned.”

One of the biggest lessons Serkis taught them was that they could not pretend to be an ape, they have to be an ape. A lesson that wasn’t easy considering they were in these grey suits that were covered in dots and using arm stilts to help them be closer to moving like an ape. So to help them get past that, Serkis added that the cast should just be an ape and do it authentically. Ball said it started out as struggle at first, but after the first six or eight weeks of ape camp, they got lost in their characters. So much so, it scared Ball when they surrounded him as if they were apes.

Another way that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is distancing itself from the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy is in its approach to the filming process. While Matt Reeves had shallower depths of field and longer lenses, as well as still frames in his two Planet of the Apes films, Ball wanted to have more of an active camera to go with his action-adventure coming-of-age film. This way the film would feel a little more raw. As such, there are more handheld cameras, some of which are constantly moving making you feel as though you are right there with Noa.

Of course, this process could be very challenging for a film of this scale. Ball says he is used to having 34 setups a day. But for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, he would be lucky if he could get 10 or 12.

What happens is I have to shoot a shot with all the actors in there and all the things they’re doing, like walking a horse or whatever it is. And then, do you have all the takes and the performance, right, and now, on the spot, pick the performance you think you want, and I’ll try to redo that camera move, you know, with nothing there.

Ball said it was a huge learning process for him and the camera operators, especially since they weren’t familiar with trying to work with something that wasn’t there. They would often have to play the tape over and over again so that they could match the shot.

And the amount of intricacy to making these movies is like — I did not appreciate when I first jumped into this. It was gonna be hard, but it’s gonna be hard. But yeah, but I also say, it’s really fun to do. I love doing this stuff. It’s like furniture building, basically. You’re really trying to craft something that feels real. And yes, it’s cool.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opens in theaters on May 10, 2024.