Terry Notary | |
|---|---|
| Notary in 2018 | |
| Born | August 14, 1968 San Rafael, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupations |
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Terry Notary (born August 14, 1968) [1] is an American actor, stunt coordinator/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, including 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 .
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 the University of California, where he graduated with a major in theatre.
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]
| Year | Title | Stunt work | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 coordinator | — |
| 2006 | Superman Returns | Stunt performer / movement coach | — |
| 2007 | If I Had Known I Was A Genius | Stunt coordinator | — |
| Slipstream | Stunt coordinator (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 and Abomination MoCap performers | Soldier (uncredited) |
| 2009 | The Forgotten Ones | Stunt coordinator | Alpha Creature |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Movement coach | — | |
| Avatar | Stunts / MoCap performer / movement coach | Banshee (uncredited) | |
| 2010 | The Lost Tribe | Executive producer / stunt coordinator / movement coach | Alpha Male |
| Primal | Stunt coordinator | — | |
| 2011 | Attack the Block | Movement coach | Head Alien |
| Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Stunt coordinator / Andy Serkis and Richard Ridings's stunt double / movement coach | Rocket / Bright Eyes | |
| The Adventures of Tintin | Stunt coordinator / stunt performer / MoCap performer / movement coach | — | |
| The Cabin in the Woods | Stunt performer / movement coach | Clown | |
| 2012 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | MoCap performer / movement coach | Goblin |
| 2013 | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | Stunt performer / movement coach | Goblin / Yazneg (pick-up shots) |
| 2014 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Stunt coordinator / movement coach | Rocket |
| The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Movement coach | Laketown Refugee | |
| 2016 | Warcraft | Stunt coordinator / movement coach | Grommash Hellscream |
| 2017 | Kong: Skull Island | MoCap performer | Kong |
| War for the Planet of the Apes | Stunt coordinator / movement coach | Rocket | |
| The Square | Actor | Oleg | |
| 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 performer | Rail Worker / Buck |
| 2022 | Nope | MoCap performer | Gordy |
| Thor: Love and Thunder | Groot MoCap performer | — | |
| 2025 | The Electric State | MoCap performer | Motion-capture for Mr. Peanut, Pop Fly, Sentre Drones, Ice Cream Bot, Skeeve Bot |
| 2026 | Ramayana: Part 1 | Action Director / MoCap performer | |
| 2027 | Ramayana: Part 2 | Action Director / MoCap performer |