Let’s Not Get Too Excited About Fox’s Oscar Campaign for Andy Serkis
We liked "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" quite a lot and think Andy Serkis (who did the motion-caption work that brought the ape Caesar to life) deserves much of the credit for its success. But is it an Oscar-worthy performance? Some people sure seemed to think so at the time of the movie's release, and now that we're in the midst of awards season the talk has started up again now that Fox has announced that they will indeed be campaigning for Serkis. This will probably make some folks very, very excited. But let's not get crazy, folks.
The news came out of a Deadline post that on the heels of "Rise's" robust box office returns, Fox signed a "healthy seven-figure deal for Andy Serkis" for a sequel, a deal that apparently the studio wanted to lock in before even discussing terms with James Franco and Freida Pinto. It's a sign of how important Serkis (and Caesar) are to the future of the franchise, but it led Deadline to speculate if Fox would also push for a nomination for Serkis. Fox responded by saying that they would push for a nod for him, although it wasn't clear if it would be for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor.
We understand why this is news. Because the Oscar season is so long, everyone's desperate for a fresh angle, and the possibility of Serkis becoming the first actor to land a nomination for a mo-cap performance is somewhat sexy. (It's certainly sexier than Serkis in his mo-cap costume.) And we get why people want to break the Academy (which is an actor-heavy organization) out of its mindset that "real" acting only happens when you're emoting in a period drama or playing a character dying of a disease. (No voice actor has ever been nominated either, even though a lot of folks thought Robin Williams should have for "Aladdin.")
But as much as we thought Serkis gave "Rise" its soul, we don't think he should be nominated just because it was a mo-cap performance. The argument for his Oscar nod is, essentially, "Hey, doing that kind of acting is incredibly hard because of all the technical challenges that go into the character you're creating. Atop of all that, you also have to make the character believable and emotionally resonant. Shouldn't that be recognized?" Yes, but that also gets pretty close to the "Hey, Dustin Hoffman isn't autistic but he did such a good job playing one in 'Rain Main'" argument. It's another form of rewarding performances based on some bizarre degree-of-difficulty scale. The Oscars already overemphasize gimmicks and stunts enough in their acting awards. As talented as Serkis is, it would be silly to pretend his "Rise" nomination was anything more than just another example of that sort of thinking.
Andy Serkis Closes Big 'Planet Of The Apes' Deal; Should Fox Campaign For Oscar? [Deadline]
