Andy Serkis has revealed that he has always wanted to take on the role of Quasimodo on the big screen.
Serkis has had another terrific year with the summer success of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - which went on to be one of the highest grossing movies of 2014. And he would love to return to the motion capture work that has made his name to bring the Victor Hugo character back to the big screen having been inspired by the performance of Charles Laughton in the 1939 movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
He said: "I've always been a huge fan of Charles Lawton's performance in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' so somewhere along the line I've always wanted to play that character."
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes saw Serkis return to the character of Caesar, three years after he played him for the first time in Rise of the Planet of the Apes back in 2011. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was one of the most critical acclaimed movies of the year, with Serkis’ central performance gaining much of the praise. 20th Century Fox have kicked off their campaign to get Serkis included in the Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for his wonderful performance.
And it is not going to be long until we see Serkis back on the big screen, as he is set to make an appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron - however, the role he is going to play has not yet been revealed by director Joss Whedon. As well as starring in the film, Serkis has also been helping with the motion capture development of Mark Ruffalo as Hulk.
Serkis is also set to star in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens at the end of 2015, which will see J.J. Abrams in the director’s chair of this popular franchise for the very first time. Serkis is part of a new wave of actors to join the Star Wars franchise as Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Adam Driver, John Boyega, and Lupita Nyong’o are all on board. We are also going to be seeing Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher return to the roles of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia.
Serkis is also set to make the move into the director’s chair with a new adaptation of The Jungle Book. Jungle Book: Origins is an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling story and will mark the feature film directorial debut for Serkis. However, the movie is not set to hit the big screen until 2017.
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