
Terry Notary
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1968-08-14 (56 years old)
Place of Birth
San Rafael, California, USA
Terry Notary
Biography
Terry Notary (born August 14, 1968) is an American actor, stunt coordinator/double, and movement coach. 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.
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. He won a gymnastics scholarship at UCLA, 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. 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.
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). 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."
Description above from the Wikipedia article Terry Notary, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Acting
(2025)
The Electric State
as Mr. Peanut / Pop Fly / Sentre Drones / Ice Cream Bot / Skeeve Bot
(2024)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
as Rocket
(2022)
Nope
as Gordy
(2020)
The Call of the Wild
as Rail Worker / Live Action Reference Performance of Buck
(2019)
Avengers: Endgame
as On-Set Groot / Cull Obsidian
(2018)
Avengers: Infinity War
as Cull Obsidian / On-Set Groot
(2018)
The Beautiful Escape
as Oleg
(2017)
War for the Planet of the Apes
as Rocket
(2017)
Kong: Skull Island
as Kong Mo-Cap Services
(2017)
The Square
as Oleg
(2016)
Warcraft
as Grommash Hellscream
(2014)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
as Laketown Refugee (uncredited)
(2014)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
as Rocket
(2013)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
as Goblin (uncredited)
(2012)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
as Great Goblin / Yazneg (uncredited)
(2012)
The Cabin in the Woods
as The Clown (uncredited)
(2011)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
as Rocket / Bright Eyes
(2011)
Attack the Block
as The Creature
(2009)
The Lost Tribe
as Alpha Male
(2008)
The Forgotten Ones
as Alpha Creature
Crew
(2025)
The Electric State
Other
(2021)
(2019)
Avengers: Endgame
Other, Motion Capture Artist
(2016)
Warcraft
Choreographer
(2014)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Motion Capture Artist, Stunt Coordinator
(2012)
The Cabin in the Woods
Choreographer
(2011)
The Adventures of Tintin
Motion Capture Artist
(2009)
Avatar
Motion Capture Artist
(2008)
The Forgotten Ones
Executive Producer, Stunt Coordinator, Choreographer
(2008)
The Incredible Hulk
Motion Capture Artist
(2007)
If I Had Known I Was a Genius
Stunt Coordinator
(2006)
Superman Returns
Choreographer
(2005)
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Stunt Coordinator
(2003)
X2
Choreographer
(2002)
The Hot Chick
Stunts
(2001)
Planet of the Apes
Stunts
(2000)