The Oscar push begins for Andy Serkis in Rise of the Apes

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Yes, I know it’s called RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, but I refuse to give that stupid title its due.

Anyway, it seems that Fox is moving forward with a big Oscar push for Andy Serkis to land a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance as Caesar in RISE OF THE APES, despite his face never appearing onscreen.

Tim Rothman, CEO of Fox, had this to say about Serkis deserving the nod:

“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 theApes , 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.”

It’s tough, while agree that Serkis was phenomenal as the ape, I think the statue should be as much his as it was the dozens and hundreds of animators at WETA who made Caesar come to life. It’s that sort of complication that will probably make him not win, but it would be cool to see him nominated. What do you think?