What 16 Actors Behind Famous CGI Characters Really Look Like

The rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy succeeded.Planet of the ApesCharacter actor Andy Serkis played lead chimp Caesar in the Planet of the Apes trilogy. His development from a baby lab animal to a being with complex thought is an emotional journey. An interview with Den of Geek covered this.Den of GeekSerkis stated he did not play Caesar as an ape. He played Caesar more like a misunderstood, gifted child.

Serkis thought of Caesar as a gifted child. Enhanced intelligence drug coursed through his veins. He was brilliant in child terms, like a pianist playing Mozart at three or four, or brilliant at algebra early on. He was an incredibly gifted, bright child.

Caesar realizes something happens in his teenage years. He defends his surrogate grandfather, and he feels rage for the first time. He goes to a sanctuary with other apes and sees his own skin color. Caesar's character is an outsider in both worlds. This spoke to him.

Andy Serkis's Gollum in the Lord of the Rings franchise is one of the best motion capture performances ever put to film.Lord of the RingsSerkis's talent and work in the role set the standard for CG performances. He created an iconic character. That character is now linked to the Oscar-winning franchise and is instantly known worldwide.In interviewsSerkis credits his stage experience for bringing Gollum to life.Serkis credits his stage experience for helping him bring Gollum to life.He helped bring Gollum to life:

What stage work teaches you is stamina—emotional, physical, and psychological stamina and concentration. You do not learn that much concentration on a film set. It is a different kind of concentration. Playing a role through two or three hours every night, proving it, and evolving it over a run is where actors gain it. I love switching between theater and film because theater gives you emotional grounding, and you carry that into film jobs.

Bill Nighy played Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestBill Nighy had to create a sympathetic villain trapped by a curse. He injected fear and compassion into the character. This task was hard since most of Nighy's face was covered in large tentacles. While filming, actor Nighy found the process unusual.Actor Nighy found the processthe end result unsettling because he did not see how much of his performance would translate to the screen.

The result was shocking. All the decisions and facial movements translated the performance very movingly. They bothered with that stuff; it was just a lip twitch or something.

Seeing that happen felt touching. You knew those movements belonged to you, but watching this creature come out was upsetting.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Smaug, the treasure-hoarding dragon inThe HobbitBenedict Cumberbatch voiced the greedy, oversized lizard and acted the role in a motion-capture suit. The former Sherlock Holmes also visited the zoo to study lizards, preparing to re-interpret their movements for the role.Cumberbatch explained this in interviews.he learned how to move his body from the scaly residents of the reptile structure.

They prefer doing little. Yet, acting allows sudden violence or slow pacing; they take their time. I applied this to my performance by rolling on that carpet.

To help his performance further, aThe platform was built.for the actor to stand on, giving him Smaug's height.

They built a wooden platform on stilts. They added hard board padded with foam and mats. They placed sheepskin on top. It felt like 'Baum chicka baum baum,' me on my Smaug platform. I thought, 'This is cool; I can slink like a porn star dragon.'

I loved it after stepping on it and feeling like a nob. Overcoming that self-consciousness is freeing. I played like a kid in a bedroom, just imagining the thing, which works well.

For the Guardians' first outings, Rocket Raccoon served as comic relief—a surly, fuzzy little hooligan obsessed with collecting prosthetic body parts. However, in the third chapter, fans learn Rocket Raccoon's tragic history: he was a lab animal tortured for years before losing his found family to a cruel overseer.

Director James Gunn said this., for the film to succeed, Rocket needed to show as a tragic hero, not just an animated character. Bradley Cooper's performance projected emotion past his trash panda look.

Rocket Raccoon, the movie's heart, must not be a cartoon character; he is not Bugs Bunny in the middle ofThe Avengers, he is a real, small, somewhat broken beast, alone.

In aninterview with Howard Stern, Cooper stated the process of bringing Rocket to the screen is like a play more than a movie.

We perform like a play. Instead of watching, he reads other characters, and I play Rocket; that's how we do the first round. It is wonderful. Then, we keep refining it, working it, or improvising.

For the final film about Rocket's past, Cooper explored his own tragedies to helpbrings the character to life.

This last scene made me cry hard. During it, he loses his friend. The sound Rocket makes is the only thing I connect to the sound I remember hearing my own voice when my dad died. We filmed that in the sound stage. That sound had a deep truth coming from my mouth.

Josh Brolin appears in the list 'What 16 Actors Behind Famous CGI Characters Really Look Like'.He is in the Avengers.Josh Brolin's Thanos avoids being a typical villain from the funny pages. He doesn't use monologues or mustache-twirling clichés like many others. Instead, Thanos shows chilling but calm logic in his plans to wipe out populations. The Mad Titan believes his butchery and genocide help the universe, so he shows quiet control when dealing with opponents.

He is an Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor.Kelly Port explained this.how they turned Josh Brolin into Thanos without ruining his acting.

He is in.He is in Avengers: Infinity War.] We used live-action Loki and Thor as they appeared and put them against Josh as Thanos in his motion capture suit. We placed hundreds of motion capture cameras around the set, hidden. This let us film the actors on an actual set build. This helps actors perform because they react to something real.

He is in the fourth installment of thePlanet of the Apesfranchise.Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes., Owen Teague plays Noa, a chimp about to become an adult. A rival group of apes puts his clan in danger. To show the pain during emotional scenes, Teague grafted his face onto a realistic CG ape. The young actor said this in anHe gave an interview withEsquire.He weirded him out every time he saw an ad for the film.

It feels strange... It's just me! But it also twisted my mind a bit. Now, when I see Noa on a billboard or anything, I think, Oh, look… it's my face.

The gravelly-voice star of theHe is in Fast and the Furious.The Fast and the Furious franchise uses his voice for Groot in theGuardians of the Galaxy.franchise. James Gunn says Groot became Groot only after Vin Diesel gave the character his voice. A post by the filmmaker states, “We had other versions/voice artists, but Groot didn’t feel fully Groot until Vin did his voice.”He said, “We had other versions/voice artists, but Groot did not feel fully Groot until Vin did his voice.”

Diesel played both Groot and Baby Groot in all threefilms since the franchise started in 2014.films since the franchise launched in 2014.Diesel statedthat making Groot relatable involves showing him innocent in everything he does.

I kept the character towering and innocent. That innocence is what attracts people. I pushed beyond limits. People reacted, saying, 'This guy takes this seriously. It's only three words, dude.' I worked more days on this than I have words. It feels surreal.

Diesel provided the voice, and Diesel also got on stilts.Diesel also got on stilts.Diesel provided a physical presence for the part while on set.Diesel credits his background as a breakdancer.Diesel helped bring Groot to life.

I loved performance art. I began a version of performance art when breakdancing started in the '80s. In New York City, if someone saw me dancing on the corner with a crowd, I'd hand out my hat. I was that guy. Imagine if it was the '80s; I'd be dancing for you now! I would take my hat off and say something cute, like, 'I take credit cards too.' The performance art aspect is fun and challenging. As this series grows, there will be many chances to do performance art for this character.

As an Avenger and a key part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mark Ruffalo's role as the Hulk built one of the MCU's most complex superheroes. Ruffalo started as a meek scientist whose gamma ray experiments failed. Ruffalo spent his time in the MCU developing the big, green guy with thoughts, feelings, and humor. Ruffalo spent over 10 years perfecting acting in a motion capture suit.Ruffalo admitted that the process can be “a little dehumanizing at times.”Ruffalo said the process can be “a little dehumanizing at times.”

I was there at the start, behind Andy Serkis, but I kept doing it. I know how it developed. I know how to act inside that bubble, which can be a little dehumanizing.

Sometimes technology takes the lead when performance and bringing humanity to that stark setting should lead.

Lupita Nyong'o played Maz Kanata, the thousand-year-old space smuggler who became a barkeep. She stepped outside her comfort zone joining the role.She joined the Star Wars franchise.The Star Wars franchise.The actress was thankful.The actress was thankful for the help of director J.J. Abrams and motion capture guru Andy Serkis to guide her and make the foreign process smoother.

Motion capture let me play something not limited by my body. After playing a role so focused on my body, having something about another creature's body instead was a relief.

Covering the character with dots, without costume, hair, or makeup, was hard and strange at first. This required stretching my imagination. I had J.J. [Abrams] directing, and Andy Serkis, a master, gave me good advice. His main advice was, “Create this character like any other.”

The billion-dollarAvatarJames Cameron envisioned how new technology and CG could tell a story on screen. Cameron changed what one technological breakthrough could achieve in the Na'vi people of Pandora's story.Avatar achieved a technological breakthrough.Cameron and star Sam Worthington worked together to bring the main character, Jake Sully, to life.

In an interview with Empire Online,Sam Worthington spoke.The actor discussed working with Cameron and how the filmmaker's storytelling helped his character.

The actors Jim [Cameron] employed worried about protecting the performance side of performance capture. Without that heart and that love for each other, it is just bells and whistles. That defines blockbusters.

Jim does not work at those levels. He wants it to work without effects. When you perform, there are no extras. You are either in an empty grey soundstage or underwater. The tangible thing is the other performer. It always comes down to that commitment and that connection.

When director Taika Waititi took charge of Marvel'sTaika Waititi directed Thor.Waititi wanted more than just filming the camera. Besides directing, the filmmaker also played Korg of Krona, a rock warrior trapped on Sakaar, forced to fight in the Grandmaster's Contest of Champions.

Talking about the roleWaititi admitted adding himself to the filmmaking process added extra pressure to the actor-director.

I sabotage myself. If I get a chance to risk my career, I will do it. I will push myself in any film. But with Sakaar and its many odd characters and crazy elements, the audience needs something grounding, something like a mothering role. Korg acts as the prison's mother and cares for everyone.

Audiences appreciate having someone down-to-earth and gentle because they need that.

Actress Rosa Salazar liked the script forRosa Salazar stars in Alita: Battle Angel.Rosa Salazar saw her face for the first time on a CG character in Alita: Battle Angel. When she auditioned, she said she did not know the visual effects process well enough to create the character. But as she learned the technique, she saw the technology as a tool to help her perform better.Interview with Den of GeekShe explained her experience with the process.

I saw concept art before getting the role. I knew what she would look like and roughly what they planned. Watching her on screen first time was a phenomenal experience. Only a few actors truly grasp this. Your performance, better or worse, is what is surreal, and eerily so.

Bringing a British Empire icon to the big screen felt daunting. Ben Whishaw's performance as Michael Bond's Peruvian marmalade-loving spectacled bear quickly won all Paddington fan praise. During the making ofPaddingtonThe actor found the whole process a littledisconcertingyet was inawe of the visual effects teamfor bringing Paddington to life.

While recording the voice, cameras filmed my face, mouth, and eyes. Sometimes we went to sessions where I acted things out to help them because what they do is very hard. They build that bear from nothing. They ask me to do things, and they work their magic.

To bring the bald, blue Doctor Manhattan to life in Zack Snyder'sWatchmenActor Billy Crudup faced personal hurdles. Wearing the motion capture suits, which look like pajamas, caused humiliation. TheMorning Show The actor discussed his humbling in an interview:

Movies dress you up to look cool. They put you in situations where you act cool and say cool things. But in Watchmen, it was clear I was a 40-year-old guy trying to make a living in pajamas. It was obvious sitting there in pajamas. After getting past the ego hit in the first week, I valued that part.

Despite feeling embarrassed at first,Crudup admittedthe entire motion-capture process was fascinating andoffered an interesting lessoninto a different side of the industry.

Watching these skilled people work was exciting. They worked hard and skillfully helping me create a performance for Dr Manhattan.

The X-Men's metal Goliath, Colossus, appears inDeadpoolas the conscience for the Merc with a Mouth. He often ignores or tries to avoid this role. He is a father figure for Negasonic Teenage Warhead and often a friendly foil for Deadpool. Stefan Kapicic projected a performance beyond the CG metal exterior to make Colossus likable to moviegoers while setting him up as a hero. In aninterview with Forbes, he explained the experience:

I have the chance to play Colossus and bring this amazing character to life. I do not approach this from an ego or a need. I know it is my voice; I see myself in the movie.

We made one of the best relationships in the Deadpool franchise. This connection became brotherly; Colossus acts as his big brother, always ready to protect and save him. Deadpool also cares for Colossus. He avoids disappointing him. This is a family dynamic.