Owen Teague has opened up about the "hardest part" of starring in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
The latest instalment of the Planet of the Apes franchise moves the series forward by several centuries, taking place around 300 years after the time of Andy Serkis' character Caesar in the previous movies.
In this instalment, chimpanzee Noa (Teague) and his brethren emerge from exile to find that humans have devolved into feral creatures.
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Speaking to Digital Spy about the process of motion-capturing for his portrayal of an ape, Owen said that the most difficult aspects of the role weren't physical.
"In terms of a physical element of it, I thought it came maybe too easily for me," he explained. "The voice was the hardest part for me, finding Noa's voice and how he uses language was tricky. I didn't want him to speak… I didn't want his voice to just be a growl.
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"I wanted him to have this youth and naivety that Caesar doesn't have and that Proximus doesn't have, but it was like, 'How do I do that in a way that still feels ape-ish?' which was a challenge"
Owen and co-star Kevin Durand (who plays Proximus Caesar) also spoke about the pressure of living up to the success of previous Planet of the Apes movies.
"There wasn't hesitation," Owen said. "Every so often you get a job that comes along and you're like, 'I would do anything to get to do this' and this was one of those. There was pressure, but fortunately, I got to speak to Andy [Serkis] before filming and we had such a good team, and these guys were so much fun, and Wes [Ball, director] is just so visionary that the pressure kind of faded once we really got started. Of course, it was there."
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Durand added: "I think I feel that every time I take anything on: don't muck it up. We had this incredible gift on this one where we were students, we were in ape school. Before I showed up, they did six weeks and I got four weeks, getting to work on finding the body, trying to find the voice, trying to figure out how to become an ape.
"You had all of this amazing rehearsal space. To be able to do it for a month, most movies take a month to shoot the entire thing, there's no rehearsal space. By the time we all went [to set], we were all ready to rock and roll."
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is released in UK cinemas on May 9 and in US cinemas on May 10.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
