Freya Allan talks about the evolution of her Planet of the Apes characters

Each planet of the apes The reboot focuses on humans, who are central to the conflict between super-intelligent apes and the remnants of humanity. For new releases, kingdom, Our human agent is May. Witcher’s Freya Arlan. She looks like a normal wild human at first, but as we’ve seen before, she can’t speak. war for the planet of the apes— It turns out that May is not what she seems. She is intelligent and she can speak like a modern person, which is something Noah (Own Teague) has never seen before.

talking with hollywood reporter, Alan opened up about a number of topics, including exposing Mae’s intelligence. In her interview, she admitted that she was prepared to lie about that aspect of her character, but it was something her director Wes Ball also wanted to keep secret. . She said it was “disappointing” to see that revealed in her new trailer, but she still hoped it would catch viewers off guard, like Noah and his girlfriend Raka. she said there was.

For early moments where Mae appears like a normal wild animal, Alan drew on moments from her childhood when she pretended to be an animal. The intention is to strike a balance between not being a “too perfect” imitation of the wild animals May heard in her childhood stories, and “rabbits in the headlights” so as not to arouse suspicion. Was that. With the help of athletic coordinator Alain Gauthier, Alain gave Mae a physicality similar to other wild humans, but not quite. She doesn’t know much about wild animals because she’s not a wild animal. She’s never really seen one. [until early act two]” she said. “So she has to identify those little moments where she feels, ‘She’s not like other people.'”

The second half of the second act reveals that Mei is not only not feral, but also part of a small group of humans intent on destroying human technology locked in a vault in the heart of the kingdom of the ape lord Promyxus. It becomes clear that She accomplishes that goal by flooding the vault before escaping, but when she and Noah reunite at his house, it is finally revealed mid-conversation that she is armed with a gun. It is revealed that it is ready to be used on him.

Alan said the scene was “very different” from how it was originally shot. Initially, Noah would have turned around and while he was talking, Noah would have pointed the gun at the back of his head. “You’d think, ‘Oh my god, was she going to shoot him?'” And Mae was crying as she did it, and she was like, ‘I was going to shoot him? ”’ Alan recalled. “And she doesn’t. The moment he uttered Raka’s name, she put the gun down.” It was changed in the edit to feel “more subtle,” but this is something that future films may not be able to do. It was a choice she recommended because it created a more opaque dynamic.

“May went there to kill.” [Noa] Because he scares her,” she continued. “His intelligence terrifies her. She doesn’t want to kill him, but feels she has to. And in that moment, she can’t. She has committed many atrocities in the past. But you can’t pull the trigger. So it’s a very emotional breakup, with a tragic, lingering fate. So we shot it, and that’s what’s so great about editing. You can also modify it to make it more interpretable.

For Alan, Mae’s actions throughout the film were a combination of careful planning and on-the-spot thinking. She followed Noah and said she was planning on speaking eventually, but being cornered by Proximus’ men accelerated the final part faster than she expected. Also, May knew that having Noah and his clan on her side would make her mission easier, but she just had all her intentions to herself. I just needed to leave it there. There are glimpses of a genuine friendship between them that speaks to how humans and apes can coexist, but in the end, “she has her own motivations and they’re not part of the same team.” . […] What else is she supposed to do? Should she immediately tell him that she wants to reunite humans across the planet? Obviously not. ”

contemporary ape While the films won’t bring back the human characters, it looks like this new series of films (if made) will continue to feature May as a central character. Alan hopes to continue drawing May, if only to see where she, Noah, and the other characters go next. “There’s a theme that completely challenges everything they’ve ever known,” she said. She has influenced them. I would love to go again. ”

kingdom of the planet of the apes is currently showing in theaters.

Want more news from io9? Find out when you’ll receive updates marvel, Star Warsand Star Trek Release, what’s next DC Universe of Movies and TVEverything you need to know about the future of , and Doctor Who.