Terry Notary

Last updated
Terry Notary
Terry Notary 2018 (cropped).jpg
Notary in 2018
Born (1968-08-14) August 14, 1968 (age 56)
San Rafael, California, United States
Occupations
  • Actor
  • stunt co-ordinator/double
  • movement coach

Terry Notary (born August 14, 1968) [1] is an American actor, stunt co-ordinator/double and movement coach. [2] Notary mainly portrays creatures and animals for the film and television industry, and is known for his motion capture performances in films like Avatar , The Adventures of Tintin: Secrets of the Unicorn , the Planet of the Apes reboot series, The Hobbit trilogy, and Kong: Skull Island . In 2018, Notary played Cull Obsidian in the Marvel Studios films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame .

Contents

Early life

Born in San Rafael, California, Notary was diagnosed as being severely hyperactive at age 7. His parents enrolled him in gymnastics class to burn off excess energy. [3] He won a gymnastics scholarship at UCLA, where he graduated with a major in theatre.

Career

Notary's first career was as a performer with Cirque du Soleil. His first job as a stunt movement coach was on Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas . Director Ron Howard was hiring Cirque gymnasts for the film, and after sufficiently impressing Howard, Notary was offered the job of teaching all the actors how to move. [4] Notary followed this new career path to Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes , for which he prepared by studying ape movements at the LA County Zoo. Notary's first motion capture film was Avatar , where he was the movement coach for the Na'vi. [5]

Swedish director Ruben Östlund hired Notary when casting his Palme d'Or-winning 2017 film The Square . For Oleg, a character who acts like an ape, Östlund discovered Notary after running a Google search for "actor imitating monkey" and viewing one of Notary's performances (which was for an audition for Planet of the Apes). [6] His performance in that single scene, in which a performance artist acts like a hostile ape at a fancy dinner, was widely praised, The Independent calling it "the most tense, uncomfortable scene of the year." [7] [8] [9] [10]

Filmography

YearTitleStunt workRole
2000 Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas Stunt performer / movement coach
2001 The Animal Stunt performer
Planet of the Apes Stunt performer / Tim Roth's stunt double (uncredited) /
movement coach
Various Ape Extras
The Hot Chick Stunt performer
2003 X2 Stunt performer / movement coach
Tarzan Animal movement coach
2004 The Village Movement coach
2005 Me and You and Everyone We Know Stunt co-ordinator
2006 Superman Returns Stunt performer / movement coach
2007If I Had Known I Was A GeniusStunt co-ordinator
Slipstream Stunt co-ordinator (uncredited)
Next Stunt double (uncredited)/ movement coach (uncredited)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Stunt performer / Silver Surfer MoCap performer /
movement coach
2008 The Incredible Hulk Movement coach / Tim Roth's stunt double (uncredited) /
Hulk & Abomination MoCap performers
Soldier (uncredited)
2009 The Forgotten Ones Stunt co-ordinatorAlpha Creature
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movement coach
Avatar Stunts / MoCap performer/ movement coachBanshee (uncredited)
2010 The Lost Tribe Executive producer/ stunt co-ordinator/ movement coach Alpha Male
Primal Stunt co-ordinator
2011 Attack the Block Movement coachHead Alien
Rise of the Planet of the Apes Stunt co-ordinator / Andy Serkis & Richard Ridings's stunt double /
movement coach
Rocket / Bright Eyes
The Adventures of Tintin Stunt co-ordinator/ stunt performer / MoCap performer /
movement coach
The Cabin in the Woods Stunt performer / movement coachClown
2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey MoCap performer/ movement coachGoblin
2013 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Stunt performer / movement coachGoblin / Yazneg (pick-up shots)
2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Stunt co-ordinator / movement coachRocket
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Movement coachLaketown Refugee
2016 Warcraft Stunt coordinator / movement coachGrommash Hellscream
2017 Kong: Skull Island MoCap performer King Kong
War for the Planet of the Apes Stunt co-ordinator / movement coachRocket
The Square ActorOleg
2018 Avengers: Infinity War Groot MoCap performer [11] Cull Obsidian (motion capture
and voice)
2019 Avengers: Endgame
The Lion King MoCap performer
Doctor Sleep Stunt performer / movement coach
2020 The Call of the Wild MoCap performerRail Worker / Buck
2022 Nope MoCap performerGordy
Thor: Love and Thunder Groot MoCap performer
2025 The Electric State MoCap performer

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References

  1. SensaCine. "Terry Notary". SensaCine.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-07. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  2. Caranicas, Peter (Aug 9, 2011). "Terry Notary on 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'". Variety . Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. Dundjerski, Marina. "Monkey Business". UCLA Magazine. No. Fall 2001. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  4. Bhattacharya, Sanjiv (11 July 2014). "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: how to act like an ape". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  5. "MEET THE TALENT – TERRY NOTARY". Animatrik.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  6. Utichi, Joe (29 May 2017). "Meet Ruben Östlund, Director Of The Newly-Crowned Palme D'Or Winner, 'The Square' – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  7. "Ruben Östlund and Terry Notary on the Stunning Climax of 'The Square'". 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  8. Yuan, Jada (6 November 2017). "The Square's Monkey-Man Scene Is Bonkers. Here's How It Was Made". Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  9. "How 'The Square' Used a Half-Naked Ape-Man to Pull Off the Film's Most "Intense and Unexpected" Scene". The Hollywood Reporter . 14 November 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  10. "How the most tense, uncomfortable scene of the year was achieved". Independent.co.uk . 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  11. Alter, Ethan (October 25, 2017). "Terry Notary on going ape in 'The Square' and playing teen Groot in 'Avengers'; plus, an exclusive clip". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.