Ryan Gosling’s unlikely space partner in Project Hail Mary is now heading into Oscar conversation.
The guy who you hear voice “Rocky” in the movie, voice actor James Ortiz, is a stage performer and master puppeteer. And he’s now up for consideration in the supporting actor category!
Rocky isn’t your typical sci-fi sidekick. The spider-like alien sits at the emotional centre of the film and is one of the most talked-about elements of the movie. Without question.
According to Variety, Ortiz is eligible under current Academy rules, opening the door for a rare kind of recognition in a category usually dominated by on-screen performances.
The eligibility conversation doesn’t stop there. His work also qualifies for SAG-AFTRA recognition at the Actor Awards, while the Golden Globes’ current rules would exclude puppeteers from consideration.
Meanwhile, the Critics Choice Awards have no specific restrictions that would block him, and BAFTA remains one of the few major bodies with precedent for unconventional performance recognition, having previously nominated Eddie Murphy’s voice work in Shrek for supporting actor consideration back in 2001.
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street), Project Hail Mary stars Ryan Gosling as an astronaut who wakes up aboard a spacecraft with no memory of who he is or what mission he’s on.
As fragments return, he discovers he’s been sent into space to stop a phenomenon causing the sun to die out. The twist comes when he realizes he won’t be doing it alone.
Project Hail Mary is out in cinemas now.
With Project Hail Mary pushing a puppeteered, voice-driven performance into serious Academy Awards conversation, does this open the door for more non-traditional characters to compete in major acting categories?
