As we know from Andy Serkis' time as Caesar in the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, it takes a lot of commitment to become a CGI chimp. There are lots of behaviours to study in order to be a believable ape, according to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes actor Owen Teague.
Speaking with GamesRadar, Teague revealed the pre-shoot training that went into his role of Noa. "We had this movement teacher, Alain Gauthier," he said. "Well, that was his title - but he was much more than that. He helped us create these characters. He worked with us to get the physicality down, but he also helped us make these characters our own and find their voices. It was a blast."
"We started with exercises to get in touch with our bodies and build strength because we're doing very physical stuff in this movie. And then we started getting our characters on our feet. We started speaking. Alain helped with everything."
Teague also revealed that another part of the experience was getting up close and personal with apes. "I went to a place called the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida," he said. "Which is about an hour away from where I grew up. Our producers know the director of the sanctuary, Patti Ragan, who said I could spend some time there to hang out with the apes. That ended up being a really wonderful experience."
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes lands on the 10th of May in UK cinemas.