Fox pushing for Best Supporting Actor nomination for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' star Andy Serkis

Will 2015 be the year the Academy finally starts recognizing motion-capture performances at the Oscars?

Though a lot of audiences who saw the film may not recognize his face, Andy Serkis did some incredible work this year with his motion-capture performance as Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox is campaigning to get Serkis a nomination for his motion-capture performance.

Motion-capture is the technique of recording an actor's movements and facial expressions and using that to digitally create the character on screen. Watching behind the scenes videos of a movie like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes shows how incredible the technology is, and if you were impressed by the human-like emotions of Caesar in the film, that was all Serkis.

Serkis is also known for playing characters such as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was also done with motion-capture.

The question of whether motion-capture work is worthy of Oscar nomination has been subject to a lot of debate. Some actors are critical of motion-capture work as not being real acting, or saying that it might be threatening to their careers if you can digitally create performances in a computer. Despite some incredible work from actors like Serkis over the years, the Academy has never given a nomination for a motion-capture performance. '

However, Fox isn't going too far with their campaign. They aren't trying to get Serkis a Best Actor nomination as some had speculated, even though Caesar is clearly the lead character of the film. They also aren't campaigning for Serkis by himself, but rather as part of the whole cast, an approach they previously took with films like Crash and Syriana.

As noted by CinemaBlend, putting Serkis in the Best Supporting Actor category is likely just due to the competitiveness of the Best Actor category, and Fox thinking he stands more of a chance as Best Supporting Actor. The Best Actor category this year is speculated to include actors like Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything).

The 2015 Oscars will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and air on February 22nd, 2015.

photo via Nancy Rivera/ACE/INFphoto.com

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