Check out the interview transcript below for the cast’s ideas on where future films could take this franchise.
PERRI NEMIROFF: I love asking this question when we can dig into any scene we want.
[Laughs]
PETER MACON: Because of your pal.
Image by Jefferson Chacon
TEAGUE: My pal Jekyll.
His name was Jekyll, and then something would go wrong, and Mr. Hyde would come out.
MACON: Didnt he kick you?
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.
He kicked me in the shin a few times.
He was like, Hey, I’m bored!
KEVIN DURAND: Was he weirded out that you were acting like an ape?
Because theyre so energy-sensitive.
TEAGUE: At first, he was.
He just wanted to go faster all the time.
MACON: Not fast enough.
MACON: The river scene.
It’s unlike anything I’ve ever had the opportunity to do.
Image via 20th Century Studios
The set essentially was like a hot tub from Burning Man.
It was this giant turbine engine that pumped all this water.
TEAGUE: Theybuilta river.
Image via Comic-Con
MACON: And it was just fun to just hang out in the water for three days.
But funny story, my last lines in the film were scripted differently.
We have to change it.
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Can we change it?
And this is Weta.
I shot a video on my phone saying the last lines, Together.
Stronger together, and they managed to fit that into the film.
He swore to secrecy until now!
The cat’s out of the bag.
Image via 20th Century Studios
Wes, you’re a genius.
MACON: [To Freya] You have to talk about yours.
FREYA ALLAN: Drowning?
MACON: No nose clip or anything?
ALLAN: No, no nose clip.
TEAGUE: It’s insane.
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All the stunt stuff.
ALLAN: I just love stunts.
It’s so fun.
Image via 20th Century Studios
So, yeah, it was just straight into my brain.
That is indeed one of the worst feelings in the world, isn’t it?
ALLAN: It was, but I just revel a little bit in all of that stuff.
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MACON: Youre down with the waterboarding.
You know what I mean.
[Laughs] The challenge!
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TEAGUE: I was just so not wanting to be in their position because I absolutely hate water.
ALLAN: We were like prunes by the end.
Id get out at the end of the day, and I was just shriveled.
Custom Image by Federico Napoli
MACON: But the water was very buoyant.
You were sort of floating in it.
And it was warmer in the water than it was outside.
It was like altered states.
You know what I’m saying?
It was a very zen space for Raka.
The new franchise star also teases plot details.
We would be like, What?
No one taught us how to do that.
[Laughs]
TEAGUE: I remember the scene in the vault where you come and thwart our plans.
We would just kind of keep going.
DURAND: You felt exhilarated.
It was pretty awesome.
DURAND: I think hands, for me.
DURAND: Yeah, I always noticed your hands.
Your hands were always really good.
So it was trying to figure out where does he settle?
TEAGUE: There are times in the movie where I catch myself.
Kevin probably taught you thiswhere the shoulders and the hips don’t move, they’re joined.
I would always lose that coming out of the fours.
You’re the only one who notices that.
TEAGUE: Well, good, but I will forever be bothered by it.
DURAND: I didn’t see it, bro.
TEAGUE: Thanks, dude.
That was part of the process.
DURAND: [To Freya] What was the difficult ape work for you?
ALLAN: [Laughs] Being around you weirdos.
Freya, did you ever take a stab at use the crutches just to give it a go?
ALLAN: A couple of times.
I tried last night, actually.
DURAND: She did.
TEAGUE: And she was really good at it.
I cant evenwalkin heels.
TEAGUE: Once you get it, it clicks.
DURAND: Youre an athlete, too.
TEAGUE: Stellar running.
ALLAN: Thanks, guys.
DURAND: The cameras couldnt keep up.
They were like, Where did she go?
No one could find you.
Authentic athletic running on screen is something that always catches my eye, and I love seeing it!
DURAND: You didn’t run track or anything?
ALLAN: I did a bit when I was very young, but I chose drama over sport.
Now I want the opposite of that question.
Can you each tell me the ape movement that was toughest to shake after you wrapped the production?
TEAGUE: All of them.
[Laughs]
ALLAN: They were actually obsessed.
It’s kind of concerning.
Any opportunity they get, they’re just in there, and I have to continually just stand there.
DURAND: [Imitating Proximus Caesar] Its very hard for me to drop the voice.
I love the voice.
ALLAN: You literally do it in every interview, Kevin.
DURAND: I know!
TEAGUE: I was saying last night that its gonna be hard for me.
DURAND: How crazy would it be for us to do a scene as human characters?
That would be weird because the ape would probably come in.
TEAGUE: Weve always just been apes.
DURAND: Oh, wow.
How Proximus came into power, and how Raka became a member of the Order of Caesar.
DURAND: I love it.
Im here for it.
MACON: Theres a good conversation to be had.
DURAND: Im there for it.
MACON: Like, we’re not really quite developed yet.
DURAND: Punk rock era!
MACON: Maybe they had a band at one point.
Peter,I can ask you this now that we’re talking spoilers; is Rakadeaddead?
MACON: I didn’t see him die.
I call Wes, and I’m like, Dude, what is that?
Why are you doing that?
He’s like, Well, you never know.
We didn’t see him die.
Hey, I’m willing to believe what you want!
DURAND: Im a giant, magnificent creature!
MACON: But when you come back, you’ll have a squeaky shoe.
You know what I mean?
Proximus comes back with a squeaky shoe.
He’s like one of those big shoes.
With a patch and a hook maybe.
Im all for these ideas.
MACON: But hes still just as charming as ever.
ALLAN: Kevin, if you were asked to be another ape, would you?
I mean, Proximus was such a buffet for me.
ALLAN: Because you could technically do that.
Thats the fun thing.
DURAND: I would need something that I’d really be excited to see.
MACON: I would want to be a howler monkey.
TEAGUE: I would wanna see you be a howler monkey.
MACON: Dude, and you know why they howl.
That’s a movie I wanna see.
Can Noa and Mae Truly Trust Each Other Going Forward?
And Freya, same for you about Noa.
TEAGUE: Her determination, and her, like, I’m going to do this at all costs.
That makes her very dangerous.
She’s got a mission, and she knows how to manipulate me to achieve that.
ALLAN: I feel like, for me it’s the same thing.
What she admires and what she fears is the same.
She’s like, Oh, well, here we go.
This dude is trouble.
Everyone is mighty interested in Ciris physical transformation this season.
So, I think that will tie it all together, as well.
It was basically aboutgetting a mixture between the books and the game.
It’s so much fun.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apesofficially hits Hulu on August 2.
