Matt Reeves has been discussing how he asked J.J. Abrams for feedback on some early footage from Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, and how that inadvertently led to the casting of Andy Serkis in Episode VII.

“I showed him a bit of the movie,” reveals Reeves. “I wanted to get some feedback. And I know that he had known and really loved Andy Serkis. But it’s the same experience I had coming in and asking to see all the footage of Andy from Rise with him in his helmet cam, so that I could understand exactly what the process was.”

“And the thing that struck me, and actually got me so excited, was the mystery behind how great he is, is that he’s great. That he’s an amazing actor. And the scenes that I showed [Abrams] were of Andy just in mo-cap. And he was like, “Oh my God, he’s an incredible actor.” He was so blown away.”

And while Reeves isn’t claiming sole credit for getting Serkis the gig, he does think that that private screening may have gone some way towards sealing the deal…

“They had known each other a bit before, anyway, but I think when he saw it, it was like a real revelation,” says Reeves. “He said to me, ‘that looks – I’m not kidding when I tell you I think that’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.’ I said ‘I know, isn’t he amazing?’ He’s so good.”

We can look forward to seeing Serkis in action when Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes opens on 17 July 2014, followed by Star Wars: Episode VII on 18 December 2015.