Speaking exclusively to SciFiNow about Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, motion capture king Andy Serkis, expanded on his role in Star Wars: Episode VII, revealing how he got the role, and the role of both himself and his motion capture studio Imaginarium in the production.

“The Imaginarium is now involved in all of the performance capture on the Star Wars projects,” Serkis confirms, “and I’m playing a character in that.”

Although the loud voice of the internet has been quick to assume his role is motion-capture, that’s not necessarily a given. Serkis went on to explain how he came onto the project alongside a carefully picked roster that includes 12 Years A Slave‘s Lupita Nyong’o, Attack The Block‘s John Boyega and veteran thesp Max von Sydow amongst others.

“It’s extraordinary. I grew up with Star Wars and was a massive fan of the original films. I never imagined in a million years that I’d be engaging with this. It’s just come about so organically.

“JJ Abrams and I met, and we just had this incredible kind of vibe between us. He said, ‘You’d fit really well in this universe,’ and I said, ‘I think I probably could.’ We’re working very closely, as I say, in two ways: the Imaginarium is providing all of the performance characters, and I myself am playing a character in it.

“I’m thrilled, deeply excited,” he continued. “Sitting at that read-through the other day was just extraordinary. It was an amazing event; being with the original cast was just incredible. I just think the script is so wonderful, and both the old and the newbies in the cast are just so thrilled and excited to get together.”

Star Wars: Episode VII is due in cinemas 18 December 2015. You can buy Star Wars: The Complete Saga for £57.99 on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk.

