Nova is a pretty quiet woman in which cult sci-fi film?

Nova is a fictional character in the novel "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle. In the first two "Planet of the Apes" films, she is played by Linda Harrison.

Linda Melson Harrison (born July 26, 1945) is an American television and film actress, and director and producer, who is internationally renowned for her role as Nova, Charlton Heston's mute mate in the classic science fiction film "Planet of the Apes" (1968) and the first sequel, "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"; she also had a cameo in Tim Burton's 2001 remake of the original.

In "Planet of the Apes" (1968), Nova is a primitive girl who is captured by the intelligent and warlike apes during one of their hunting expeditions. American astronaut George Taylor is also captured. They are taken to Ape City where they are paired up in a cell. Taylor, having been shot through the throat by a gorilla, is unable to speak, but when his speech returns he befriends the chimpanzees Zira and Cornelius. They eventually help Taylor and Nova escape to the Forbidden Zone where Taylor learns the truth about the planet.