Rob Schneider Lands Role Originally Written For Chimp

September 5, 2006 | Issue 42•36

LOS ANGELES—Actor Rob Schneider's next comedic role was originally intended for August Lord Oook, a veteran comic actor and chimpanzee. "True, Oook was the whole reason for the project in the beginning, but then Rob came in and just blew everybody away with a great reading, and we had to give it to him," producer Cary Simonthal said of the role of Reginald T. Zappers, the cross-dressing simian bank robber who seductively lures overweight guards into the vaults and knocks them out with his purse, until one hard-headed, warm-hearted, near-sighted rent-a-cop shows Zappers the power of true love. "Sure, there are things the chimp could do better, but Rob's working with a speech coach, and he brings just as much name recognition to the project." Schneider's performance in Chimp Change, co-starring Vince Vaughn as himself, will be released in theaters next spring.