War for the Planet of the Apes is charging into theaters in a few weeks, bringing a new perspective to the world created in the two previous Rise and Dawn films.
What started as the apes revolting against their insensitive and controlling human counterpart quickly became and ape versus ape fight as issues of morality kicked in. Heading into the third film, most all of that morality has gone by the wayside as apes are simply acting in their own survival’s best interest while humans do what they consider the same on the other side of the war.
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Along this march to war, several apes have come around and earned key roles in Caesar’s army, but none are more important than Maurice. Maurice is an orangutan who closely advices the ape leader with a level head and strong will to preserve what is right. Played again by Karin Konoval, Maurice will become a key factor in the War film.
“Within War, it definitely is Mankind’s last stand against the apes,” Konoval tells PopCulture.com in an exclusive interview. “So both of those leaders are doing their utmost to protect the survival of each of their species. The colonel for the humans, and Caesar for the apes.”
“Within that, Maurice’s place within that remains as Caesar’s advisor and confidante. And as I say, his conscience to a certain extent because during this particular film it’s also a very epic journey for Caesar himself, a personal journey. And so, the way Maurice affects that and is present for that becomes a very significant part of that.”
Maurice & Caesar
In all footage for War for the Planet of the Apes, it appears Caesar has lost his empathy for humans.
It is never more present than a scene which sees the ape leader blast a threatening human with a shotgun before discovering a little girl hiding away in a cabin near a beach. He immediately elects to leave her behind but it is Maurice who insists they care for her.
“Maurice remains Caesar’s number one, Caesar’s confidante, his advisor, and his conscience to a certain extent,” Konoval said. “Their relationship has deepened and grown over the time they spent together, if anything within this story telling, Maurice’s role as Caesar’s confidant and advisor is even more significant. And he honors that, Maurice honors that at all times.”
“Even if sometimes he may express something, or take an action that Caesar doesn’t immediately appreciate, it’s always in thought of Caesar’s well being,” Konovalย said. “And it’s just the richness of that as that grows, it’s a wonderful thing, and I have to say that being able to explore this role, with the relationship between Maurice and Caesar and working with Andy Serkis like this has been one of the most beautiful acting challenges and opportunities I’ve had in my life. Working with Andy Serkis is absolutely magic, absolutely magic.”
Acting It Out
Becoming an ape is more difficult than one might suspect. Although the performance is largely based on motion capture, the motion capture element also captures the intense and emotional facial expressions offered by the actors which are then translated into the computerized apes.
“I have to say that learning to quadrupedal walk alone, the moment you get down on all fours and try to, you know, make that thing happen, you realize ‘Oh, we have a road to go here,’” Konovalย joked. “I’m like a 125 pound woman and I play a 300 pound male orangutan. So on every level, the training is wide ranging. One is doing one’s research psychologically, and in terms of the movement and everything. And vocally, in terms of orangutan’s sound.
“It took a great deal of time to get at ease with giving Maurice his weight and finding his particular orangutan quadrupedal movement. And I’ve gotten better and better at that, over the three films, now I can do it actually with much more ease than I began seven years ago.”
For Konoval, much of the training involved observing orangutansย in real life and noting where their body’s strengths are, which muscles are used, and where their weight is balanced. Konovalย admits, it is a rigorous and daily process and one which she began for Warย before becoming aware of the third film’s production.
“I’ve done things like training in the gym, long sessions in the gym with the weight lifting and then yoga,” Konovalย said. “Cycling for long distances, taking the stilts out into the park at dawn and running around in the trees before anyone’s awake. So I don’t get stared at. That’s where I started.”
The Technology
One of the most impressive aspects of the film is the translation of the human face into an emotional ape. During New York Comic Con, director Matt Reeves was excited to show off the first looks at the film with incomplete footage, which actually offered a deeper understanding of the film and actors’ processes. While some shots would feature fully computerized apes, others would reveal the original footage of the human actors in their performances.
“The job remains playing the character,” Konoval said. “The technology is just what captures you, right?”
“The performance capture technology that WETAย digital employs, that they get even better at over time, actually becomes more meticulous, so it becomes even more incumbent on the actor to have a performance of integrity. There’s no place to hide with this, and its not like it can be disguised later somehow.
“So, in fact, I would say that the challenge remains consistent to play Maurice with his phisycal, psychological, and spiritual integrity and to follow that character line, so my job as an actor doesn’t change.”
Photo Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
More Apes
In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
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