One of the most suspenseful scenes in director Johannes Roberts‘ Primate sees a deaf father arrive home, unaware of the vicious animal attack waging in the recesses of his house.

The character, Adam, as Roberts initially wrote with collaborator Ernest Riera, wasn’t deaf at all. Nor was Adam a character who’s as warm and present a father as Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur portrays him. Roberts reshaped the character entirely when he sought out the actor.

“I asked Johannes Roberts, our director, ‘What made you think of me...