Actress Judy Greer has landed a supporting role on the newest installment of the "Planet of the Apes" franchise, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," a drastic change from her roles on "Arrested Development" and on countless rom-coms with the likes of Katherine Heigl and Jennifer Aniston.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," slated for a July 11 release, is the sequel to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which is based on the original iconic 1968 film "Planet of the Apes" that starred Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall. Greer will play the female chimp Cornelia.
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Greer revealed to Conan O'Brien "Conan" last week that she and her husband, television producer Dean Johnsen, are a huge "Planet of the Apes" fans and the two paid tribute to the franchise during their wedding reception.
"It wasn't a full 'Planet of the Apes' wedding but during the cocktail hour, we had the TV screens in the bar (with) the movies playing," Green told O'Brien. "We had 'Rise (of the Planet of the Apes') playing on one screen and then the original, obviously, 'Planet of the Apes' playing on the bigger screen, which was great.
"I surprised my husband . . . and bought this porcelain cake topper that instead of a bride and groom was a chimp bride and groom," she continued. "I bought him as a wedding present . . . a vintage Rolex watch and I had it engraved 'apes shall not kill apes.' . . . He did tell me later that I got it wrong. It's 'ape shall never kill ape.'"
Greer has starred in the TV series "Archer" and "Arrested Development" and movies like "Descendants" and "13 Going on 30."
She will be utterly recognizable in her new role.
New York magazine's Vulture reported that Cornelia was briefly introduced in the first film (where she was played by dancer Devyn Dalton) as a potential love interest to Andy Serkis's lead ape Caesar. The role will be expanded in the new installment, which has already enlisted Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Gary Oldman to play some of the new human characters. Matt Reeves will direct the sequel.
"I'm not going to be wearing Manolo Blahniks in this one," she told Vulture.
It was Greer's former "13 Going on 30" costar Andy Serkis who encouraged her to pursue the role in "Apes," she said. Serkis played Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
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