With the award season just underway Fox executive Tom Rothman has been hailing Andy Serkis’ motion-capture performance as super-intelligent chimp Ceaser in last summers surprise box-office hit RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES as an Oscar contender. Serkis has made the medium an important art form after roles in THE LORD OF THE RING’S trilogy and KING KONG. This autumn as also saw the actor collaborate with Steven Spielberg’s first foray into animation with THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN. Motion-capture performances over recent years have now been looked upon more serious, with many in the business declaring it no different to an actor wearing make-up or prothetics.
Here’s what Rothman had to say:-
I think we may be at the place where we will see a first-ever in Hollywood this year, which is to see Andy Serkis get nominated for a best supporting actor for Planet of the Apes, even though his face never actually appears. But his performance appears, so we are going to push that hard.
I think part of what we have to do is help educate people to understand that that is 100 percent his performance. It is great emotional acting. Tom Hanks didn’t have to say any dialogue in Castaway for it to be a great performance… The emotionality – what you see and what you feel – he did it. I saw him. I watched him. Then they digitally overlaid – you can think of it as a costume – the skin and the hair of an ape. But I tell you the thing that people felt – and a lot of people where moved when they saw the movie – is because of his performance.
This will not only give the studio critical kudos for the award season but they also have that all important Christmas period for sales of THE RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES DVD’s and BLU-RAY’s, as they say all publicity helps!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
