Allan Henry first got a taste of what performance capture acting (also called “motion capture” or “mocap” for short) is like from watching the filming of “King Kong” in 2005 in his native New Zealand. Director Peter Jackson, also a Kiwi (an affectionate nickname for the people of New Zealand), set up production in his home country, and Henry was able to see some behind-the-scenes action. He also saw Andy Serkis doing the mocap for Kong, and a new passion was born.
Cut to 2021 and Godzilla vs. Kong, which features Henry doing the performance capture for none other than Kong himself. It’s a neat circle coming round from seeing Serkis’ Kong to now doing his own version. Henry also appears in 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, as both Kong and Scar King. In between his Kong duties, he also did the performance capture for the bear in 2023’s Cocaine Bear.
The Nerd Element caught up with Henry during SDCC 2024, where he appeared on three Godzilla-related panels moderated (or co-moderated) by Jessica Tseang of The Kaiju Kingdom podcast, including one entitled “70 Year of Godzilla: A Nostalgic Journey.”* TNE spoke with Henry about his career so far, including what it’s like having to perform as a giant creature versus a normal-sized bear, as well as his background and his other stunt and mocap work.
* This panel paired him for the first time in person with T.J. Storm, the performance capture actor for Godzilla in 2014’s Godzilla and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Even though they weren’t in the same films, it was still cool seeing “Godzilla” and “Kong” together in person.
