The actor describes Franklin as an ape doctor who serves as the right hand man to James Franco's scientist character. In the film, of course, Franco genetically alters a chimp named Caesar, who, long story short, leads a rebellion of apes against humanity.
“I think that’s sort of at the basis of the franchise itself, is a good sort of outside look at how we treat animals and other living creatures," he explains. "It’s almost like A.I. The apes have jumped back up to rebel because we’ve sort of taken everything else for granted on this earth, taken these creatures for granted and they decide to rise up. So it’s pretty neat. It’s cool.
“This is the prequel of all of the Apes franchise movies, even including Tim Burton’s reboot," he adds. "This is before any apes have become cognizant or anything. The first instance in this movie happens where an ape actually interacts with a human in a brand new way.”
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