Snoke & Star Wars Hijacked Andy Serkis' Press Tour For Planet Of The Apes
"Star Wars" trilogies are a flat circle, and George Lucas was right when he said "it's like poetry, it rhymes." Much like the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy created incredible excitement and anticipation, with "The Force Awakens" trailer breaking viewership records and fans everywhere obsessing over every detail, every character, every quote. And much like the prequel trilogy, things went downhill quick, with the movies disappointing a lot of people, and fandom going nuts and bullying the cast and crew incessantly until they drove some of them off public appearances and the internet, and until they all but swear off the franchise they were once huge fans of.
Still, for a little while, the excitement was palpable and infectious, not just among fans but even press. For example: people only asked Andy Serkis, who played the "Star Wars" villain Snoke, about "The Force Awakens" when all he wanted was to talk about apes. Speaking with Star Wars Insider, Serkis opened up about the pressure of joining "Star Wars" and the obsession with it. "I came off a huge press tour for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,' and every single question was about 'Star Wars,'" Serkis said. "It's an incredibly potent, powerful universe."
"It's great archetypal storytelling. J.J.'s really gotten back to the essence of what this story is about; the real humanness of the story. People are excited to see that," he added.
What Andy Serkis has said about Snoke
It is disappointing to hear Serkis say people wanted to talk about Snoke more than Caesar. It makes a bit of sense, given audiences had not seen Snoke back in 2014 and did not know how utterly dull the character would end up being. Still, to think you have one of the best movies of the 2010s in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," and one of the most complex characters of the decade, and someone would rather ask about a movie they knew Serkis was unable to talk about? Talk about a waste.
Indeed, Snoke is a bland character, a clear Palpatine knock-off (literally!) and not much else. Though it makes sense that Serkis was "gutted" about Snoke being chopped in half by Kylo Ren in "The Last Jedi," the character didn't have anything left to offer. As good an actor and motion capture performer as Andy Serkis is, even he could not make Snoke more than the nothing character that is on the page. Still, at least Serkis made peace with the franchise eventually, and returned to give us arguably the best "Star Wars" character in a decade as Kino Loy in "Andor."