Toby Kebbell told his employers he had a dentist appointment when he needed time off to audition for 'Dawn of the Planet Apes'.

The 31-year-old star plays Koba in the forthcoming sci-fi film and he lied to get out of the work when he was starring in a three-part drama to make sure he was able to meet Andy Serkis who plays Caesar.

He told collider.com: ''I was a massive fan of the first one. I was working in London, and I got an audition for it so I had to pretend I had an dentist appointment to come to the audition cos I was playing a lead on a three part drama. So I pretend I had a dentist appointment and I met Andy, I was very nervous, because he's awesome.''

Although Kebbell doesn't know what made Serkis pick him he is thankful for the opportunity.

He added: ''And we went to his place in London called Imaginarium, where we did a screen test. A kind of motion capture screen test. We put on a suit, and I did two scenes with Andy. Sort of short you know, basically, wasn't ... I have no class but for some reason, he thought I would be fun to work with. So yeah I was blessed.''