The latest entry into the Planet of the Apes franchise introduces a new era in the struggle between apes and humans. After centuries that saw the rise of the former and the fall of the latter, apes are at a new apex in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, with humans so scarce they’re known by some only as the “Echo.” As humanity slowly dies, the apes follow in their behavioral footsteps with sometimes disastrous effects.

In this setting, Noa (Owen Teague), a chimpanzee who has lived a sheltered life, must leave the safety he once knew as he attempts to rescue his family and friends. Along his journey, he meets his very first human, Mae (Freya Allan), whose final destination is the same as Noa’s. Noa is understandably wary of Mae, a human who clearly has her own agenda, and is keeping secrets from him. Can Noa trust Mae, or will his partnership with her lead to even more disastrous consequences, not only for himself, but for those he loves?

This new chapter of the Planet of the Apes story finally hit theaters on May 10, 2024, and MovieWeb sat down with stars Owen Teague and Freya Allan to discuss their characters at the heart of the story.

The Chemistry Between Owen Teague and Freya Allan
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 4/5 Set several years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the next installment in the Apes saga. Ape clans have taken up residence in the oasis that Caesar sought to colonize, but humans have reverted to their animalistic nature in their absence. Now battling between enslavement and freedom, outliers in the Ape clans will take sides in a newly burgeoning society.Release Date May 10, 2024 Studio Disney Studios Australia, Twentieth Century Fox

When Noa first meets Mae, he’s just lost his entire world. An outside clan of apes has come into his home looking for her, and in the chaos they destroy that home and kidnap many of his family and friends. Considering the circumstances, Noa is understandably hesitant to trust Mae. “A large part of this is that we both, Noa and Mae, have grown up with a very specific view of one another’s species,” explains Allan, when asked about the fractious relationship between the two. She adds:

They catalyze one another to have to question that and challenge that. And I think for both of them that’s scary. Because when you’ve known one thing your whole life and then that’s suddenly just completely thrown away…

She trails off, as Teague picks up the thread. “You’re forced to kind of reframe everything,” he elaborates. He continues, discussing the journey he and Allan had to embark on in order to play these reluctant travel partners. “I think it came actually quite naturally to us, having that sort of complicated relationship. Because to play that, you have to have an immense amount of trust between the two actors so that you can go into these different kinds of places. And that was something that was apparent from the very beginning. Just even in our chemistry read, there was like a sense of safety.”

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Motion Capture Performance in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Proving that there’s no real difference between a standard performance where the face you see is the face of the actor, and the motion capture performance that allows the VFX team to more easily add layers of CG over the face of the actor, Teague and Allan confess there was no real challenge present with one of them being in a Mo-Cap suit. “The mocap performance capture element wasn’t really a challenge. I think the clean plates probably challenged me,” says Teague.

“Yeah, I was blessed when I got to be with them,” adds Allan, who, as a human character, didn’t have to go through that. But she did have to engage with actors in the mo-cap suits, which was nonetheless better than acting without anyone else. “Despite the strange suits and the cameras sticking on their heads and the dots and all that, it was when I had to do a whole scene without them [that challenged me], and I’d just be listening to your little voice off camera somewhere.”

For Owen Teague, it hardly matters that he’s wearing the mo-cap suit, and even that he’s playing a chimpanzee. He doesn’t think of the character in those terms. “I think of Noa as like — he’s a guy, you know?” he shares. “It’s not like I’m playing a chimpanzee necessarily. He looks different than I do and moves differently and speaks differently, but you bring the same kind of emotional life to the character, regardless of what species you’re playing. It was very much about figuring out who Noa is internally. And that’s how you find the physicality and the voice.” He adds:

This is a journey for him. He starts out as a kid. He starts out very naive and inexperienced. He doesn’t know what’s out there and kind of finds not only history and knowledge throughout the story, but also himself.

9:14 Related Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Proximus Caesar & Raka Actors Debate Human and Ape Nature Kevin Durand and Peter Macon play apes on opposing ideological sides in the movie and got deep into a debate over their characters’ ideas.

Freya Allan Explains the Enigma of Mae

When we first meet Mae, she seems to be almost feral, like the other regressed humans that now populate this world. It’s not long before she begins to reveal the secrets she’s been keeping, while still hiding much of herself. It makes it difficult to connect with her, which makes her a unique human character in the Planet of the Apes franchise. At times, the choices she’s making don’t seem obvious to the audience.

Freya Allan shared some of the backstory she created internally to help explain her character’s actions. “This was something I created that you won’t know,” she explains. “But her parents went to try and complete the same mission and so had other humans, and they hadn’t returned. I don’t know if they’re alive or not, but I’m presuming they’re dead. And then, when I reach a certain age, I want to do the same. And so I go off with a camp, and they all get killed. Similarly to the circumstance that Noa is in, which is kind of a weird thread between the two of them, that their loved ones have been killed by the same apes, I think is an interesting concept.” Allan added:

“So that’s what I was carrying with me throughout the film.
Obviously, she’s got the weight of humanity, but it means a lot more when it’s also the weight of her loved ones
. And I think that when somebody you cared for have gone, then it’s kind of like all she has left is to complete that.
And so that, therefore, means that she does things that, as a viewer, are questionable. But for her, it’s kind of her only option
, and it doesn’t mean it’s not hard — it’s difficult, and you know, painful at times — but she kinda hasn’t really got a lot of options.”

Related Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Review: A Great Continuation & Epic Beginning Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy follow-up to the Caesar trilogy that skews closer to the original 1968 film and sets up a new trilogy.

The journey of Caesar in what is now known as the Caesar Trilogy — which includes Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes — is the story of humanity’s downfall as primates ascend. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apesand its sequels seem set to continue pumping new blood into the heart of the franchise. Humanity is all but wiped out. Apes are now undergoing their own evolution, finding their own place in this ever-changing world that continuously asks the same question over and over again — can we live together in harmony, or will humans and apes forever struggle for dominance in this franchise?

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was released in theaters May 10, 2024, from 20th Century Studios. You can watch the trailer below: