While we got to talk to Judy Greer about her role in Pixar’s next film, The Good Dinosaur **– you can read that here – we also took a moment to talk to her about her role as Cornelia in **Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.
The sequel takes place a decade after the events in Rise, when humanity has been ravaged by a devastating virus unleashed upon the population. With the simian soldiers slowly taking over, humanity tries to forge a fragile peace, but things don’t go to plan.
A lifelong Apes films fan, Greer lit up when asked about the first time she saw a rough version of her CG character, the female ape who captures Caesar's (Andy Serkis) heart. “I saw her! (VFX supervisor) Dan Lemmon, who is one of the guys working on the look of the apes and my boss, showed me a picture of her on my first day of shooting. I couldn't believe it. It took my breath away seeing her. She's so beautiful and regal and very feminine. I really felt like I was looking at a lady.”
Given that she’s playing one of the apes, Greer had to go through simian boot camp to learn how to master the art of ape performance capture. “Andy Serkis is the master, but Terry Notary is the godfather, so he taught me everything I know," she said. "I got there late in the process, so I learned a lot on set from my amazing fellow apes. They were helping me out – when we were waiting around for set-ups, I'd be, 'Can we practice quad walking? Can I get my half-crutches? Is this good?' 'No, keep your butt down!'"
With Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman and Kodi Smit-McPhee also in the cast, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is out here on July 17 next year.