The Big Picture

Owen Teague felt pressure joining a legacy franchise like Planet of the Apes but had faith in the film and director Wes Ball.
Teague and his castmates went through six weeks of ape school to learn the physicality and create a bond.
Noa, Teague’s character, is a unique protagonist who goes on a coming-of-age journey and develops his own philosophy.

From Maze Runner director Wes Ball, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes picks up hundreds of years after the events of the recent Planet of the Apes rebooted trilogy. In an ape-dominated world, Noa, a young chimpanzee played by Owen Teague, will embark on a journey that will challenge his preconceived notions about the past he was taught and lead him to alter the course of history for apes and humans. The movie also stars Freya Allan, Peter Macron, Kevin Durand, and William H. Macy.

During this interview with Collider, Teague talked about why he felt pressure after joining the cast of the new Apes movie, not feeling relaxed until about the second week of filming. Plus, he shared how he bonded with his castmates during six weeks of ape school, the invaluable advice Andy Serkis gave him when approaching his role as Noa, and the universality of Noa’s coming-of-age journey.

You can watch the full interview in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Owen Teague Reveals His History With ‘Planet of the Apes’ Movies – Including the Tim Burton Movie

COLLIDER: You know, you’ve stepped into a legacy property before with IT, so how are you feeling stepping into a legacy franchise like Planet of the Apes that spans all the way back to 1968?

TEAGUE: Yeah… I mean great, it’s also like it’s scary. It’s nerve-wracking, but it’s okay because I have so much faith in this iteration of the film and so much faith in Wes (Ball) that I’m just really excited. I’m just really excited for people to see it and to see it in its entirety myself. But it is like, this is one of the greatest franchises ever made. So, face the pressure.

I mean, a fair amount of pressure, you know. So what was your exposure to the Planet of the Apes films prior to being cast? Do you have a favorite movie? Did you grow up watching them?

TEAGUE: So I grew up… I didn’t, I mean, I saw the original when I was a kid, and I remember it really disturbed me. I think it disturbed everybody when they were a kid. That’s like, it seems to be the universal response. And then I saw the Tim Burton one when I was a kid too, which I didn’t realize was a bad movie when I was a kid. [Laughs] But I mean, to be fair, the makeup is unbelievable, and the actors playing the apes are all incredible. So, you know, I still, I don’t know, I still kind of don’t hate that movie, but that’s not a popular opinion. But then I saw ‘Rise’ and ‘Dawn’ and ‘War’ all in theaters. I think that might be the only movie series that I’ve gone to theaters to see all three of them because they’re amazing films. So that was my experience with them. I, you know, I got this audition and I really, like, I never thought I’d get this opportunity. So I’m really lucky.

Owen Teague Says Andy Serkis Told Him How to Approach His ‘Apes’ Character

Image via 20th Century Studios

You are of a rare class of actors to have been a part of this and to step into, particularly in this iteration, like this mocap world of the ‘Apes’. I got to speak with your director, Wes (Ball), the other day, and he mentioned that you and your costars went through about six or so weeks of ape school. Tell me what that was like.

TEAGUE: It was amazing. It was so much fun. We had our teacher, you know, really, Alain Gauthier, who was brought in to help us get the movement and the physical characters. Fortunately, he has a theater circus background, so he was really good at not just helping us embody the apes, but also create physical representations of the people we were playing. The apes we were playing, they’re people, it’s, they’re people. But it was really, really fun because within the first day of really getting into the “being ape of it all,” we just got, it was so natural for all of us, and also served to really make us tight as a group. The cast, we’re still very, very close because I think, you know, when you’re crawling around on the floor with somebody for two hours, being a chimpanzee, you develop a close friendship. [Laughs] And we got rehearsal, you know, it was, it was really, it added so much to the project that we got to have that time to explore.

Absolutely. I can imagine something like that being very bonding. Because it’s also physical performance, it’s a physical performance, but it’s also like mentally, did you have to mentally cross any threshold in order to become an ape? Or did it just come with the physical performance too?

TEAGUE: I think it, I mean, it all kind of blends together. It’s all sort of one thing. You know, the physicality isn’t separate from the mentality and that’s not separate from the voice. And so, you know, we started with the physical element. Obviously, you do work as an actor ahead of time to mentally get where you need to be. So the two were quite involved with each other from the beginning. Yeah, I think the hardest part was really finding the voice and how these characters spoke and used language, but once you know who you’re playing, that becomes easier because the voice, like the physicality, becomes a reflection of the character. That was something that Andy (Serkis) told me, actually, was approach it as you would any other role. You know, you’re just acting.

I was just about to ask if Andy (Serkis) gave you some words of wisdom, and I just love to hear that he offered that to you.

TEAGUE: Yeah, I mean, he gave me a lot of words of wisdom, but that was one of the most comforting things because, you know, the beginning of this process was quite overwhelming. And then I was like, I don’t know if I can do this. So hearing that kind of like this is… the ape is a costume you put on and approach it as you would any other character was really helpful to hear.

Owen Teague Previews the Plot of ‘Kingdom of the Planet of Apes’

Now I’ve had the chance to see some new footage as well as the new trailer.

TEAGUE: Cool.

And based on everything that I’ve seen, it really is Noa’s journey that audiences are going to be following. So for you, what makes Noa stand out as a protagonist of this movie and, hopefully, a new trilogy?

TEAGUE: He thinks about things differently than the other apes. He’s a creator, really. He’s kind of an inventor, and he thinks about the future. So that’s, I think, something that kind of makes him a good protagonist is that sort of curiosity and drive to not just make stuff, but make something maybe someday of apes as a species. I think we could see him get to that point. I don’t really know where we’re gonna go, obviously, but also in terms of just this story, it’s a coming-of-age story. We watch him become an adult and I think, chimp or not, that’s something that everybody goes through and can relate to. I know that I related a whole lot to Noa’s journey in this and his parental relationships, and it’s universal stuff. While Noa is an extraordinary character, he’s also sort of all of us, and he’s our eyes into the movie. So I think it’s a good balance of, like special protagonist but also every man, you know?

Related ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’: Release Date, Cast, Plot, and Everything We Know So Far Caesar’s legacy lives on!

Yeah, and I’m so excited to get to go on this journey with him. It seems like he is going to be interacting with a lot of different apes with a lot of different viewpoints. Can you tease how his interactions with the people around him are going to affect his coming-of-age story?

TEAGUE: Well, he’s learning through this entire movie. Often he’s learning things that are in direct opposition with each other. And he goes into the film with kind of a closed mindset in terms of what the world outside is because of how he’s been raised. Throughout the film, he’s meeting these other apes with radically different ideas that he’s got to make sense of. So the whole movie, we’re watching him like process these things that seem completely outrageous to him. And by the end of it, he’s developed his own kind of philosophy, or he’s developing his own philosophy. Yeah, I’m not sure if that answers your question.

What Owen Teague Wished He Had at the Beginning of ‘Kingdom of the Planet of Apes’ Filming

Image via 20th Century Studios

What do you wish somebody would have told you before the first day of filming? And when you think back to your experience, what was something that felt kind of crazy in the moment, but ended up being so worth doing in order to make this movie?

TEAGUE: Wow. That’s a good question. Man, I mean, I guess I wish, I don’t know, I felt like it went pretty well, but I guess I wished that I had just had a little more confidence in the beginning to do it. Not that I didn’t have confidence to do it, but I wish that I’d just been a little bit more relaxed in maybe the first week. I think by week two I was okay, but you know, it was intimidating. And I’d never led a movie like this before, and I’d certainly never really done performance capture leading a movie before, you know. And there was also a lot of expectation in terms of, you know, that I placed on myself, which thankfully went away as we started filming. But, you know, I remember a moment during ape school where I was like, “I have to, you know, I have to take this from, like take this over from Andy Serkis,” who is like one of the greatest actors ever, and someone who I probably wouldn’t be in this industry without having been exposed to as a kid. So that’s a lot of pressure and I… Yeah, I was lucky that I was able to kind of get out of that. And that was, that was because of Wes and Alain and the other cast members who, you know, you just, you get close with people and they become your family. And that helps you get through it. So, you know. Yeah.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes premieres in theaters May 10. You can watch the trailer below.