When word broke that the next Planet of the Apes film (due July 14th, 2017) had both a title and a new leading man, we were like: "Sure" and "Who?" The latest in the 47 year old franchise will be called War of the Planet of the Apes and the star is Gabriel Chavarria. Well, the star other than Andy Serkis of course who will return as lead ape Caesar. The young Latino actor (age unknown) currently stars in the Hulu Original Series East Los High. If you are unfamiliar with that (and many will be) he was previously seen in small roles in the Hilary Swank vehicle Freedom Writers and the illegal immigrant drama A Better Life but this will be his second lead in a feature. His first, already filmed, comes next year with Lowriders (reuniting him with Oscar nominee Demián Bichir who will play his father this time).
Thankfully for the first blockbuster he will not be buried in motion-capture suits like so many Apes cast members in the past because: look at him...
from his facebook
the headshot
from his instagram
He also did a book trailer "Chain Reaction"
And because stardom is still relatively new, his web presence (instagram, twitter) doesn't feel super pr driven quite yet - though it does feel Hollywood with a tinge of (I regret to inform) Entourage bro-ness -- so you still get things like this YouTube video with his friends while drunk (guessing).
Or this adorably excited Facebook post...
Let the unknown be known.
Heh.