Planet Of The Apes: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Nova

From the original film starring Charlton Heston to the various sequels and unnecessary spin-offs, an embarrassing Tim Burton remake, and a resurrected trilogy by Matt Reeves, the Planet Of The Apes franchise has been iconic. A character from the original film who has been reinterpreted in the other movies by creators and fans is Nova. A mute human inhabitant of the titular planet, she befriended, helped and eventually became the partner of George Taylor, the protagonist of 1968 original, an astronaut who’s stranded on this ape-dominated planet. In Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, the sequel that follows, Nova ultimately dies a tragic death in a city inhabited by mutant apes. Nova has still lived on in different interpretations and fan theories as mentioned before.

Here we discuss 10 things that you probably did not know about Nova.

10 Nova’s age

Nova’s age was apparently 22 when she was captured by the apes on the Planet. That means that by the sequel, she might have been in her late 20s. This piece of trivia around her age was shared in The Ape, a promotional newspaper distributed among moviegoers to build up hype around the film.

What’s interesting to note is that the actress who plays Nova, Linda Harrison, was also of the same age when production around Planet Of The Apes started.

9 In the Planet of the Men

After the success of the first film, the studio executives had planned on a sequel of a different nature. Pierre Boulle, the author of the French novel that inspired the film drafted a story and idea for a screenplay titled Planet Of The Men. This story had a different fate for Nova.

This interpretation would have had deeper philosophical connotations around the character. The plot would have revolved around Nova and Taylor settling in a society of primitive humans and educating them in the process. Nova would also have a son called Sirius who ends up killing apes. A human would have killed Taylor in the chaos that ensued. In the end, Nova would grieve his death and recognize the destructive nature of humanity which has resurged.

8 James Cameron’s take on Nova

Before Tim Burton, James Cameron was planning to helm an ambitious sequel to the original two films carrying forward Taylor and Nova’s legacy. Similar to the story mentioned before, this take would involve Taylor and Nova having offsprings and overseeing the rise of a new society.

‘It’s saying they’re going to go find their life and develop their colony, and their own culture. Taylor and Nova’s mating are going to produce an unusual offspring. So, that’s where they need to start.’ Linda Harrison was quoted saying. Unfortunately, Cameron’s project was shelved in 1998 and Burton took the mantle for his vision.

7 Actresses who were considered before

Before Linda Harrison, Ursula Andress (Dr No) and Raquel Welch (Bedazzled) were considered to play the role of Nova. Stating disinterest in playing a mute part, they rejected the role.

Burlesque queen Angelique Pettyjohn also auditioned for the role and even tried on the costumes, but as we all know, the role eventually went to Harrison which went on to be her most popular character.

6 An affair behind the scenes

The behind-the-scenes gossip would have been of great value for the tabloids of the time. Linda Harrison, for instance, had an affair with the producer Richard Zanuck. She even got pregnant during production.

She and Zanuck later married after the movie and went on to be married for 9 years.

5 Nova’s Baby Bump

As mentioned before, Linda Harrison and Richard Zanuck had an affair going on at the sets of Planet Of The Apes. The actress even got pregnant mid-shoot and the baby bump began to show by the end of the production.

There were careful posing on Harisson’s part to conceal this baby bump in the final cut of the film.

4 Nova was in Tim Burton’s take but not as Nova

In the Tim Burton reboot of 2001, Linda Harrison had a brief cameo, too, but not as Nova. She played a human character who stops Mark Wahlberg’s character from challenging apes and causing dangers for her own tribe.

In addition to this, even Charlton Heston dropped in for a cameo in the reboot, as General Thade’s (played by Tim Roth) father.

3 Uncensored nudity

In the initial drafts of the script, Nova and all the other female human characters were supposed to bare their breasts. This would have been a sexualized and problematic move by modern standards, as well as the standards of the time.

However, to not have any tussles with censorship, the studio agreed to add some clothes on Nova’s body.

2 An ape called Nova

Coming back to Tim Burton’s version, we had an ape called Nova who is not at all, related to its namesake. The character of Nova in this variant was a subtle nod to the original heroine.

Nova, the ape was played by Lisa Marie who also dated Burton for some time. However, she had her own issues with portrayal of female apes in this film. She said in a press interview, ‘Tim said he wanted her to be attractive to a human male. I told him that’s going to be tough because if you’re just looking at a chimp’s face, it’s really hard to tell a female from a male.’

1 Nova in War of the Planet of the Apes

In the last entry to Matt Reeves’s new, gritty Planet Of The Apes trilogy, we find a young mute girl found in a lonely human village that was exposed to the Simian flu. This flu also began turning her into a primitive being.

Maurice, the orangutan, later her names her Nova. While there are no direct connections, the name of Nova being used in the film is a subtle nod to the original mute character.

NEXT: Every Single Planet of the Apes Movie (In Chronological Order)

About The Author

Shaurya Thapa
(724 Articles Published)

Shaurya Thapa is an Indian freelance journalist who mostly dabbles in writings on cinema, music, and human interest features. When it comes to Screen Rant, he writes lists on a wide array of subjects ranging from international films to mainstream Netflix series and comic book trivia. He also hosts a podcast called ‘BhindiWire’, an Indian parody of IndieWire.

More From Shaurya Thapa