He gave the standout performance in one of the year's best-reviewed movies, but will awards voters understand that it's OK to write down Andy Serkis' name on the line that says "Best Supporting Actor?"
We heard this question before, of course -- back when Serkis got some Oscar buzz by playing the twisted and conflicted character Gollum in the final two "Lord of the Rings" movies.
That time, it came to nothing.
And now it's once again a significant query in the aftermath of the release of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
In the film, which topped the box office over the weekend, British actor Serkis cements his status as the lord of performance-capture by turning in a carefully calibrated and compelling performance as Caesar, a chimpanzee who develops extreme intelligence through medical testing, and eventually leads an ape revolt.
"I'd like to think that it could be understood as being no more than acting," said the 47-year-old Serkis, who made his first performance-capture splash as Gollum. He then played the title role in Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong," soon he'll appear as Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn."
"I don't see that there should be any kind of special category or anything like that," he told TheWrap. "The performance is acting. That's always been my attitude."
Also read: Hey, Hey, It's the Monkeys: 'Apes' Rises to Big $54M at Weekend Box Office
Since "Apes" was released on Friday, some have been asking again if Serkis could at land an Oscar (or at least a nomination) for the performance, in which his movements and facial expressions were used by special-effects technicians at Weta Digital to create Caesar.
Time's Richard Corliss called it "a performance so nuanced and powerful it may challenge the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to give an Oscar to an actor who is never seen in the film."
At Awards Daily, Sasha Stone called Serkis' work "the performance of the year (so far)," and added,"finally, motion-capture has delivered on its promise to create seamlessly emotional, realistic performances."
Stone, though, concludes that performance-capture remains a threat to actors, "which is why the Academy will continue to be reluctant to recognize a motion-capture performance over a live-action one."
At least one Academy member, director Rod Lurie, has tweeted about the topic: "I wasn't buying into this 'Andy Serkis for best supporting actor' business," he wrote after seeing the film. "But I am now. His performance is 'Holy S---' stuff in APES."
Still, an informal survey of Academy members indicated very little optimism that the actors' branch will actually recognize Serkis' subtle and gripping performance, which is certainly the heart and soul of the film.
The consensus: Voters aren't comfortable considering traditional acting alongside performances in which the actor's face is digitally replaced by special-effects wizards, regardless of how closely that digital replacement is based on what the actor does.
