Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody is the voice of a new PETA video ad, narrating a PSA that walks viewers through the life of apes that are used for entertainment purposes.

Brody teamed up with PETA to make the film to promote the cease of using animals in film production.

“The Great Ape; he’s been forced to perform on television and in motion pictures for decades. Stolen from his mother at birth, beaten and abused behind the scenes, he’ll end up discarded in a roadside zoo,” the Jewish “Pianist” actor says in the PSA.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The ape in the ad is a computer-generated image, and the CGI is so amazing, its easy to mistaken it for a real animal— perhaps the point PETA is trying to make. And never one to shy away from controversy, PETA ends the video with the ape holding a gun, ready to end his life.

“The bottom line is that we no longer can excuse the exploitation that exists in this world. Great apes are no exception. They are extremely sensitive, intelligent, and emotional beings,” Brody said about his choice to make the ad. “It’s sad that they’re still commonly used in television and film, especially when we know how much they suffer behind the scenes. Acting should be left to actors—and that means human beings who have a choice in the matter.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount