Imagine sitting in a makeup chair for six hours. You can't eat solid food. You're drinking through a straw. You’re wearing heavy prosthetic appliances that itch like crazy, and the California sun is beating down on the Malibu Creek State Park sets. This wasn't a nightmare; it was the daily reality for the cast of Planet of the Apes 1968.
Most people remember the twist. You know the one—Charlton Heston on his knees in front of a buried Statue of Liberty. It’s iconic. But the movie’s soul didn’t come from the script alone. It came from a group of actors who had to figure out how to emote through layers of thick latex designed by John Chambers. It was a gamble that shouldn’t have worked. Honestly, it almost didn't. 20th Century Fox was terrified the audience would laugh the apes off the screen. Instead, they created a masterpiece that still feels grounded and gritty today, largely because the performers treated the material like Shakespeare rather than a B-movie sci-fi flick.
The Man Behind Taylor: Charlton Heston’s Grueling Performance
Charlton Heston was already a titan when he signed on. He had done Ben-Hur. He had played Moses. He didn’t need a movie about talking monkeys. But Heston saw something in the social commentary of Pierre Boulle’s novel and the screenplay work by Rod Serling and Michael Wilson. As George Taylor, Heston spends a massive chunk of the movie unable to speak. Think about that for a second. One of the greatest orators in Hollywood history had to rely entirely on physicality and facial expressions for the first act.
He was sick during filming, too. That iconic, gravelly voice? That wasn't just acting. Heston had a brutal flu, and director Franklin J. Schaffner decided to keep shooting because the hoarseness added a layer of desperation to Taylor’s character. It made him sound like a man whose throat had literally been sliced—which, in the story, it had.
Heston wasn't just a lead; he was the anchor. If he didn't believe he was being hunted by gorillas, we wouldn't either. He brought a cynical, misanthropic edge to Taylor that makes the character hard to like at first, but impossible to look away from. He’s the "Ugly American" lost in time.
Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall: Finding Humanity in Latex
If Heston was the brawn, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall were the heart. Playing Zira and Cornelius required a level of patience that would break most modern actors.
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Kim Hunter was an Oscar winner for A Streetcar Named Desire. She was a serious "Actor" with a capital A. To play Zira, she had to endure a transformation that left only her eyes visible. It’s fascinating to watch her performance now. You can see her using her eyes to convey empathy, curiosity, and a sort of cheeky rebellion against the ape establishment. She famously hated the makeup process, finding it claustrophobic, yet she stayed in character even during lunch breaks to keep the prosthetics from shifting.
Then there’s Roddy McDowall. He basically became the face of the franchise. McDowall’s Cornelius is a masterpiece of nervous intellectualism. He studied chimpanzees at the zoo to figure out their head movements—those quick, bird-like tilts that made the characters feel less like men in suits and more like a different species.
- McDowall actually taught other actors how to "act through" the makeup.
- He realized that you had to over-exaggerate facial muscles just to get a slight twitch to show up on the surface of the latex.
- The actors were even segregated by species during lunch—chimps sat with chimps, gorillas with gorillas. It wasn't mandated; it just happened naturally.
Maurice Evans and the Religious Zealotry of Dr. Zaius
Dr. Zaius is one of the most complex villains in cinema. He isn't "evil" in the traditional sense; he’s a protector of a fragile status quo. Maurice Evans, a renowned Shakespearian actor, brought a terrifying dignity to the role.
Evans played Zaius as a man burdened by a secret. He knew the truth about the "Forbidden Zone." He knew that humans were once the dominant species and had destroyed themselves. When he looks at Heston’s Taylor, he doesn't see a miracle; he sees a virus that needs to be eradicated before it infects ape society.
The chemistry between Evans and Heston is electric. It’s a debate between science and religion, between uncomfortable truth and safe dogma. Evans refused to take his makeup off during the day, fearing it would ruin the continuity. He would sit for hours, a distinguished British thespian in an orangutan suit, eating liquefied meals. That dedication is why Zaius feels so lived-in.
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The Supporting Cast and the "Background" Apes
We can't talk about the cast of Planet of the Apes 1968 without mentioning Linda Harrison. As Nova, she had the hardest job of all: she had to be compelling without a single line of dialogue. She had to look like a primitive human who had lost the capacity for complex thought but still possessed a soul. Harrison, who was in a relationship with studio head Richard Zanuck at the time, was often dismissed as a "studio plant," but her performance is underrated. Her wide-eyed innocence provides a stark contrast to Taylor's bitterness.
Then there were the gorillas.
James Daly played Honorius, the prosecutor.
James Whitmore played the President of the Assembly.
Buck Kartalian played Julius, the surly gorilla jailer.
These actors weren't just background noise. They filled out the world. The gorillas, in particular, had to carry a lot of the physical threat. They were the military arm of the ape city, and their performances were defined by a brute-force physicality that made the stakes feel real.
Why the Makeup Changed Everything
John Chambers won an honorary Oscar for his work on this film. Before 1968, "ape masks" were usually stiff, one-piece rubber things that looked like Halloween costumes. Chambers developed a new type of foam latex that moved with the actor's muscles.
But the makeup was only 50% of the battle. The actors had to do the rest. They had to learn how to speak clearly through the mouthpieces. If you watch closely, you'll notice the ape characters use their hands a lot. This was a deliberate choice by the cast to add another layer of "ape-like" communication.
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The budget for makeup alone was around $1 million, which was unheard of back then. It was a massive portion of the total $5.8 million budget. If the cast hadn't been able to make those faces move, the movie would have been a laughingstock.
Challenging the Social Order: The Cast's Real-World Impact
The 1968 film arrived at a time of massive social upheaval in America. The Vietnam War was raging. The Civil Rights movement was at a boiling point. The cast of Planet of the Apes 1968 wasn't just making a movie about monkeys; they were making a movie about race, class, and nuclear annihilation.
The trial scene, where Taylor is "judged" by the ape tribunal, is a direct parallel to the Scopes Monkey Trial and the McCarthy hearings. The actors leaned into this. You can hear it in the way Maurice Evans delivers his lines—there’s a patronizing, bureaucratic weight to it. It’s the sound of a government trying to suppress the truth.
Heston, who was a civil rights supporter at the time (though his politics shifted later in life), saw Taylor as a stand-in for a humanity that had lost its way. He played the character with a specific type of arrogance that is eventually humbled by the realization that his own ancestors were the ones who blew it all up.
Actionable Insights for Film Buffs and Historians
If you're revisiting the film or studying it for the first time, look for these specific details in the performances:
- Watch the eyes: Since the actors' mouths were partially obscured, notice how Kim Hunter uses her eyes to show transition between thoughts.
- Listen to the breathing: The actors had to breathe differently through the prosthetics, which gives the apes a distinct, slightly labored respiratory sound.
- Identify the "Ape Walk": Pay attention to the way Roddy McDowall carries his weight. He keeps his center of gravity low, imitating a chimpanzee's gait without it becoming a caricature.
- Check the background: Look at the "extras" in the ape city. Even those who only appear for seconds were trained in "Ape School" to ensure their movements were consistent with the main cast.
The legacy of the cast of Planet of the Apes 1968 is more than just a famous ending. It’s a masterclass in "mask acting." It proved that you could bury a movie star under an inch of rubber and still get a performance that breaks your heart. Without the specific chemistry of Heston, Hunter, McDowall, and Evans, we wouldn't have the modern trilogies starring Andy Serkis. They laid the groundwork for everything that came after.
To truly appreciate the film, watch the documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes. It features rare footage of the cast in the makeup chairs and interviews where they discuss the psychological toll of being "in the mask" for months. It changes how you see the movie. You realize that the sweat on Taylor’s brow and the frustration in Zira’s voice weren't just scripted—they were the result of one of the most physically demanding shoots in Hollywood history.