Thomas Roach believes Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes…
In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Andy Serkis portrays Caesar, who in my opinion is one of the most human characters I have seen on screen to date. Despite this being a man playing an ape through motion capture, it does not take away the raw talent that Andy Serkis has as an actor. Just because CGI is used to create a different appearance does not change the fact that Serkis acted out all of these scenes.
Andy Serkis is best known for his roles in the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as Gollum. He has gone on to play Kong in King Kong, Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin and obviously Ceaser in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Serkis has become the go to guy for motion capture. Without a doubt his most recent portrayal of Caesar is his best to date. The film itself is fantastic with a great cast, yet the character of the ape Caesar appears to be the most human. Serkis’ performance delivers more human emotion than any other actor in the film and any actor I have seen on screen recently.
Andy Serkis is no way limited to motion capture performances, and he has done his fair share of live action roles. He played Ian Dury in the movie Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award, and he is set for a live action role in Avengers: Age of Ultron and potentially a live action role in Star Wars: Episode VII. Serkis revealed that he got the role in Star Wars after J.J. Abrams saw his performance without CGI in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. This shows that even before the CGI is added someone like J.J. Abrams recognised Serkis’ talent.
The producers of The Lord of the Rings actually pushed for a supporting actor nomination for Serkis but the Academy claimed that the performance did not qualify because it was motion capture. The way motion capture is done does not take away from the performance at all. If anything it is more like theatre. Every detail of Andy Serkis’ performance is captured by the cameras and then it is post production who create the CG character. Frankly this is no different from an actor wearing lots of make up to play a role.
Many people are calling for Andy Serkis to be recognised for his acting talent rather than just being a motion capture performer and when the Oscars comes round early next year we may get to see Andy Serkis receiving his first nomination. If he does get nominated it is unlikely he will win the prestigious award, but just the nomination itself will give him the credibility he certainly deserves.
Thomas Roach
Originally published August 4, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
