From Silverbacks to the Silver Screen: Owen Teague’s Fashionable Rise in ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’

May 20, 2024

Jacket by DET BLEV SENT, shirt, cummerband, shoes by **DUNHILL,** tie by **TITLE OF WORK**, trousers by **MM6 MAISON MARGIELA**, gloves, stylist’s own

In the ever-evolving landscape of cinema, actors often find themselves traversing realms both familiar and fantastical, embodying characters that stretch the boundaries of imagination. From the wilderness of “Montana Story” to the dystopian frontier of the latest installment in the iconic Planet of the Apes franchise, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the fantastical must feel familiar to 25-year-old rising star Owen Teague.

After booking his first acting role at age seven, Teague’s nearly two decades as an actor led him to the role of Noa, a young ape on the precipice of adulthood and at the center of a multi-billion dollar franchise. “I've always wanted to do performance capture ever since I was five or six years old. I grew up with Andy's [Serkis’s] performances. My favorite movies as a kid were his movies.”

Shirt jacket by **HELMUT LANG**, sweater by **SACHRAGA**

Teague's formative years were steeped in the traditions of theater, particularly at Oslo Repertoire Theater in Sarasota, Florida, where, as a child, he was Fleance and Young McDuff in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. “It was discovering Shakespeare for the first time, and that kind of working with language that really got me interested.” It was in the same theater that he honed his skills alongside seasoned theater actors, absorbing their wisdom and insight like a sponge. "Essentially my training was just watching those older guys work and being in their dressing rooms with them and hearing how they talked about the characters," he recalls, highlighting the invaluable lessons gleaned from his mentors.

Shirt jacket and trousers by HELMUT LANG, sweater by SACHRAGA, bracelet by TITLE OF WORK, boots, stylist’s own

Expanding his horizons beyond those of traditional theater, Teague auditioned for “Montana Story,” during the isolation of the global pandemic. “I remember reading the script and thinking, ‘this is one of the best things I've ever read.’” The film was one of the rare productions that was crafted and completed as a child of the pandemic. “David [Siegel] and Scott [McGehee] wrote it with the constraints of COVID in mind. They were like, ‘We can essentially have a four-person cast, and shoot it in Montana where few people live.’”

Teague’s fondness for the project is not overshadowed by the difficulty, “It was really, really, really, hard, but it was really fun.” His remarkable knack for embodying a character shone in the role of Cal, who could only be described as compellingly complex. Recalling the experience, Teague confides, "There was something about that character that just resonated with me in a way; that's quite rare."

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R: Jacket by DET BLEV SENT, shirt, cummerband, shoes by DUNHILL, tie by TITLE OF WORK, trousers by MM6 MAISON MARGIELA, gloves, stylist’s own

Undoubtedly, the solitary nature of the “Montana Story” project impacts the way Teague approaches characters, which is highly internal. He attributes his ability to imagination and his love of putting pen to paper to create even more of a narrative for his characters. “Although certainly you find common ground with characters and you can't help but bring yourself into it; it doesn't really help me often to try to use my own experiences. I find that if I rely too much on my own experience, things start just feeling kind of dissociative, and it's just a weird way to work for me.”

It was his immersion into the world of performance capture that truly pushed Teague's talents to new heights. When cast in the epic "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," his role as lead chimp, Noa, would not only require him to look inward, but also adapt real physical behaviors of apes. This process was "The most fun I've ever had doing anything," Teague exclaims, with his usual magnetic candor.

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Guided by a team of experts and collaborators including the inimitable Andy Serkis, Teague delved into the psyche of his character, exploring the nuances of primate behavior with a sense of dedication and reverence. "I went to the Center for Great Apes in Florida, and I spent a week with chimpanzees and watched them and just studied their behaviors," he explains.

Seeing through the lens of an animal like the chimpanzee completely altered the way he approached the role. “It totally changes your perception of yourself and humanity. I saw this little kid the other day trying to get one of the waiters to play with her. She was stomping her foot and bobbing her head, and I didn't say this, but I was like, that's a chimp thing. That's how chimps initiate a game, by stomping their feet and bobbing their heads.”

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Even after a week at the Center for Great Apes, there was more schoolwork to be done. Much like the observational technique of learning that Teague employed as a kid, his watching of primates set the foundation for his learning, which was then solidified with what he describes as “Ape School.”

“We did Ape School for six weeks with our movement teacher. That was incredible because he taught us how to move like apes and get the mannerisms. It was much more of a bonding time for the cast to figure out who we were playing. It was like an improvised rehearsal situation. Really a beautiful time to have, and so much freedom in creating a character like Noa. You can really kind of let things happen organically and just follow impulses. You have this other entire dimension that you get to work in.”

Blazer, shirt, and denim by **YOSSI**, necklace by **TITLE OF WORK**, boot’s stylist’s own

The dedicated rehearsal of ape-like movement is astounding but small in comparison to the six months of squatting and running around that it took to complete the movie. According to Teague, he could’ve done another six. “Usually when you do a six-month shoot, by month three you're tired, and then by month six, you're like, ‘get me out of here.’ This film felt different. Even on his days off, Teague was on set. “That's how good the set was. If I know I have a day off, I'm going to go anyway. By month six, we wrapped the film and pretty much everybody was exhausted, but the whole cast was like, ‘we could do this for another six months.’ I didn't want to leave.”

When asked about the nature of working with green screens, Teague clarified an astounding fact, “There are two green screens in the entire movie,” he explained. Instead, the filmmakers utilized digital augmentation of environments to create a truly authentic cinematic experience. “The actors are the CGI part, and then most of the environments are actually there. It was nuts.”

In the way he discusses the production, it is obvious how much pride he takes in the work of himself and his colleagues. His love for his work is as almost nearly as clear as his love for director Wes Ball. “I've never met someone who's as passionate or as gifted at telling a story. I would not have been able to do the work that I needed to do as Noa without him standing there. It's such a wonderful feeling to have a director who is in the trenches with you. He's so much fun, too.”

Following “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the world is surely Teague’s stage. Pictured in Dunhill for the digital cover of Rain Magazine, Owen exudes the quintessence of a leading man.