Paul Giamatti Threatened His Agents Over Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes

One can't say much to defend the clunky script or the bad casting decisions for Tim Burton's 2001 film adaptation of Pierre Boulle's "Planet of the Apes." Not only did Burton's film alter the story of the original novel into something far less poignant, but Mark Wahlberg didn't project the "square-jawed space hero" archetype that his character was clearly written as. Estella Warren and Kris Kristofferson also didn't fare well as put-upon wilderness dwellers, coming across as dainty weekend warriors who had never been camping before.

Where Burton's film excels, however, is the ape design. The makeup effects by Rick Baker are some of the best in cinema history, looking eerily natural on the faces of previously recognizable actors. Additionally, the ape cast went through extensive movement training and their chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan body movements are impressive and convincing.

The ape cast also did its job with aplomb. Tim Roth growled and snarled as a feral chimp general named Thade. Michael Clarke Duncan and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa each carried a brutal energy as rival gorilla soldiers, and Helena Bonham Carter was utterly convincing as a chimpanzee who began to feel compassion for the woods-dwelling humans that the advanced ape civilization regularly enslaved.

Elsewhere, Paul Giamatti played an orangutan slavery trader named Limbo, an appealingly sniveling and somewhat pathetic character who thought only about money. Giamatti was excellent in the role and was pleased as punch to take part in a "Planet of the Apes" movie. In a new video Giamatti made for GQ, he recalls excitedly getting the call to appear in Burton's film, all too happy to play an ape ... and NOT a human. Giamatti distinctly ordered his agents to state clearly he wanted to be an ape character. Humans were right out.

GQ regularly invites notable actors to watch short clips of their own movies and comment on some of their more notable roles in a series called "Iconic Characters." Giamatti was shown clips from "Private Parts," "Sideways," and even "Big Fat Liar" before commenting on Limbo from "Planet of the Apes." Like so many of us, Giamatti admitted to becoming enamored with director Franklin J. Schaffner's 1968 film "Planet of the Apes" at an early age, and how being asked to appear in another adaptation — sans audition — was a great (if dubious) honor:

"I was obsessed with the 'Planet of the Apes' movies as a kid. And so the notion that I could be in one of those was mind-blowing to me. I didn't audition for that. Tim Burton came to me with that, 'cause I guess he was like, 'You look like a monkey, so I'll have you do this.' It was one of the funnest things I've ever done. And working with Rick Baker was amazing."

Giamatti's agents, however, were concerned that their client wouldn't be recognizable after being buried in ape makeup. Giamatti didn't care. There was no way he wasn't going to play an ape. He even threatened his agents if they even suggested anything otherwise:

"I was covered head to toe, shoulders in a fat suit, and my feet. My agents were like, 'Don't you think you should play a human so they can see your face?' And I was like, 'If you tell them I wanna play a human in this, I'll f***ing kill you all.' I was like, 'I'm gonna play an ape.'"

The anger was, of course, playful.

One might assume that wearing such elaborate ape makeup would have been a headache, but Giamatti claimed that it was just fine. He noted that his personal makeup artist was one of the fastest on set and was able to apply his orangutan mask far more swiftly than anyone else:

"I had very fast makeup artist named Bill Corso. He's one of the best special effects makeup guys in the world. And he was very fast, I had the most elaborate one, and he did his about two and a half hours. Most people were about four hours in the chair." 

Giamatti also revealed that the makeup, he felt, actually enhanced his performance. He was eager to use the physical limitations of the mask, and especially the prosthetic teeth, to inform Limbo's speech and movements. Giamatti was one of the only actors on set not to provide additional dialogue recording for his lines; all his dialogue was recorded naturally on set. He added:

"I had these crazy giant teeth. I asked them to give me some teeth the practice with, because I wanted to be able to talk. A lot of people ADR-ed it later cause you couldn't f***ing understand anybody because of these giant teeth. But I really want to learn how to talk with the teeth in. And it gave me a funny way of talking. [The makeup] gives you everything. I didn't want to take it off. I wanted to stay in at all the time. I loved it."

Giamatti also said that Burton was a delight and even provided videos for people to watch on set during slow moments. The movie may not be beloved, but Giamatti seems happy to have worked on it.