KENNESAW, Ga. | Feb 5, 2026

When audiences watch a creature blink, breathe or bare its teeth on screen, they rarely think about the human heartbeat behind the performance. But for Rachel Wansker (’16), that heartbeat is exactly what makes the magic real.

A 2016 alumna of Kennesaw State University’s Geer College of the Arts, Wansker is now working as a professional puppeteer and performer in film and television. Her most recent work can be seen in the Paramount Pictures feature Primate, where she served as the principal puppeteer for the chimpanzee character, bringing nuanced expression, emotion and realism to a creature that feels strikingly – and terrifyingly – alive.

Primate is now showing in theaters worldwide.

Wansker earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Studies from KSU, where she immersed herself in movement, improvisation and storytelling. While she didn’t initially study puppetry as a student, the breadth of her theatrical training laid the foundation for everything that followed.

After graduating, she worked professionally as an actor before pursuing advanced training in physical theatre and movement at Dell’Arte International in California, along with additional study in Italy. Her path into puppetry deepened through her work with Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts, where she discovered a performance medium that blended physical storytelling with technical precision.

Today, Wansker lives in London and works primarily in animatronics puppetry — often operating creature heads remotely to create detailed facial expressions that are captured live on camera.

The Art of Practical Effects in a Digital World

On Primate, Wansker collaborated with a suit performer who handled the physical movement of the chimpanzee, while she controlled the animatronic head, crafting every blink, snarl and emotional beat. The result is a performance that feels grounded, tactile and somehow deeply human.

For Wansker, the future of creature performance isn’t about choosing between practical effects and digital tools; it’s about partnership.

“The best results come from an equal collaboration between practical puppetry and CGI [computer-generated imagery],” she explains. “We create something with weight and gravity on set, and then visual effects artists enhance it just enough to push it further.”

She believes audiences can instinctively tell when a character has been created entirely in post-production versus when there is a live performer behind it. “People can feel when something has a heartbeat,” she says. “That’s what puppetry brings — human connection.”

A Career of Creativity and Collaboration

In addition to Primate, Wansker has worked on a range of film and television projects, including Doctor Who and several high-profile productions currently under non-disclosure agreements. She continues to balance on-screen work with her roots in live performance, always returning to storytelling as the core of her craft.

She credits her time at KSU with giving her not only technical skills, but professional confidence.

“There was a real emphasis on working with professional artists and I got a lot of access points to working with other professional artists while I was at school,” she says. “KSU taught me how to conduct myself in those spaces — and those years of professional theatre work were essential before stepping into large-budget film sets.”

She also points to the freedom she had as a student to explore unconventional paths through improv, puppetry, experimental performance and even clowning, which helped her discover her creative voice.

“When your professors embrace you as an artist – it gives you comfort in the confidence to tell stories and to tell your stories on stage,” Wansker recounted from her time as a student at KSU. “They embraced my unique brand, my unique flavor, if you will. Because we're all weird and special, you know?”

Beyond her film and television work, Wansker also serves as the Program Manager for Clowns Without Borders USA, a nonprofit organization that brings performance and joy to communities affected by crisis and hardship around the world. The work reflects her belief in art as a powerful, humanizing force.

Bringing Humanity to the Screen

From KSU stages to international film sets, Rachel Wansker’s career is a testament to the lasting value of storytelling, collaboration and artistic curiosity. In a rapidly evolving entertainment landscape, her work reminds us that even the most extraordinary creatures begin with something simple and profound: a human performer, bringing an inanimate form to life.