Owen Teague stars as Noa in the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a role that he had to go to “ape school” in order to get down.
In a profile on the actor from Variety, Teague reflected on his training for playing an ape in the upcoming movie. He revealed that he needed to go through a six-week training period that he referred to as “ape school” with the rest of the cast of the film in order to learn how to walk and move like apes do.
The school not only taught him how to move, but also gave him some insight as to how apes act as a whole.
“They’re very economical,” Teague said. “You don’t see them sit down and then shift around to get comfy. They plant themselves in the exact right place and stay there. They’re so physically present. Humans are always kind of shifting our feet and doing stuff with our hands.”
Teague stars in the upcoming movie alongside Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Travis Jeffery, Lydia Peckham, and Neil Sandilands, among others. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set to release on May 10, 2024.
What is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes about?
“Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows,” says the synopsis. “As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.”
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be written by Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, the latter of whom was also a writer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The film will be produced by Patrick Aison, Joe Hartwick Jr., Jaffa, Silver, and Jason Reed.
The next film in the Planet of the Apes series is set to star William H. Macy, Owen Teague, Freya Allen, Dichen Lachman, and Peter Macon, among others. The upcoming film is set “many years” following the events of 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes. After Caesar brought his people to an oasis, new ape societies have grown, while humans have been reduced to a more “feral-like existence.”
