Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Kevin Durand teases his “narcissistic” villain Proximus Caesar

Set almost 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will introduce an entirely new world of characters, including Proximus Caesar, the latest villain of the long-running franchise.

Kevin Durand, who plays Proximus Caesar, spoke with GamesRadar about his character, and while he admits that “he’s the baddie,” he doesn’t want to describe him as an out-right villain. “It’s coming down to, you know, homosapiens or apes and obviously he’s on the side of the apes, so he’s willing to do whatever needs to happen, by any means necessary, to ensure a future for apekind,” Durand said. “From the perspective of the narrative, he’s definitely the baddie but yeah, when you watch the movie, you’re like, ‘Well, was he really that bad?’ I mean, he’s definitely narcissistic, but, you know, he’s just trying to ensure that his kind will go on.“

Getting to perform motion capture was a thrill for Durand. “It was incredible,” he said. “I mean, every movement, every expression came from the performance but they just have this wizardry going on over at Weta in New Zealand where they can really trick the human eye into seeing what they want you to see. It’s pretty phenomenal to get to be a part of that, it was definitely a great highlight in my career.“

Our own Chris Bumbray recently caught an extended preview of the movie at CinemaCon in Las Vegas and was impressed, calling the footage “pretty jaw-dropping” and a worthy continuation of the modern trilogy.

Directed by Wes Ball, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.” Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will hit theaters on May 10th.

Kevin Durand can currently be seen starring in Abigail, the new vampire horror/comedy from Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. You can check out a review from our own Michael Conway right here.