Freya Allan wanted 'something really normal' after “The Witcher”, got “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” instead

"I said I wanted something normal," the actress jokes, "and now I'm in something where there's humans being chimpanzees."

Freya Allan was hoping for a change of pace after spending three seasons in the fantastical realm of The Witcher — but she ended up in an equally out-there world for her next screen project.

During an interview at Entertainment Weekly's video studio at Comic-Con 2024, the actress discussed going straight from the dark magic of the Netflix series to the post-apocalyptic chaos of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

"I actually left The Witcher," Allan recalled, "everyone was like, 'What do you want to do next?' and I was like, 'Something really normal, you know, just people around a table having a chat.'"

Fate had other plans. "Cut to: I've flown out to Australia, I'm walking down into this dungeon and there are a bunch of humans running around making crazy noises, and I've got Owen [Teague] coming up to me greeting me like [an ape]," Allan continued. "I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, of course. I said I wanted something normal, and now I'm in something where there's humans being chimpanzees.'"

In the movie — the fourth installment of the rebooted Apes series that began in 2011 — Allan plays the primary human character, Mae, who accompanies simian stars Noa (Teague) and Raka (Peter Macon) on their quest to reunite with an ape tribe that's been overtaken by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). Since almost all the other characters are apes portrayed by performers in motion-capture suits, Allan was one of the only actors in the film to appear as herself.

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At first, Allan was relieved to play a human character, but she's had second thoughts after listening to her costars discuss their primate experiences. "It was amazing," she said. "I remember in that moment thinking, 'I'm glad I’m a human, they look ridiculous!' And then now I’m kinda like, 'Could I have a go?' I've heard it so much now."

She added, "I would love to be an extra ape, maybe one day."

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Earlier in the day, Allan talked about where she'd like to see Mae's arc go in a potential sequel to Kingdom, as her character's anti-ape sentiment shifts after her journey with Noa.

"I'm just really excited to see her now confronting where she's come from and the people she's been with her whole life, having gone on such an insane journey and discovering so much and having everything she's ever known challenged," the actress said at the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Comic-Con panel, moderated by EW's Gerrad Hall. "I'm very intrigued to see how that then transpires when she has to talk to her people about it, you know? Because I don't think they're going to love this slightly new perspective she has."

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Elsewhere in EW's video interview, Allan's costar Durand recalled his personal history with monkeying around.

"I think my first aping was after seeing the '68 [Planet of the Apes] film when I was a kid, and I started doing my ape runs everywhere," he said. "In the back, from where I was living, there was a forest back there. We used to build all these tree forts up in the trees."

Durand said he didn't need a professional gig as a primate performer to start working on his ape physique. "I remember running through the forest as an ape," he remembered. "It was just a visceral, very cemented part of my childhood, and then getting to go out to Sydney and work with Alain [Gauthier, the ape movement coach] and really break it down from an anatomical perspective and go, 'Oh, this is what's different, this is what's the same,' and putting it all together and starting to move with it."

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes hits Hulu on Aug. 2 and will release on physical home media Aug. 27.

Watch EW's Comic-Con video studio livestream above.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.