In a potential landmark move for the Academy Awards, puppeteer James Ortiz is being considered for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as the rock alien Rocky in the sci-fi drama Project Hail Mary. If nominated, Ortiz would become the first puppeteer ever recognized in a major acting category at the Oscars.
A Breakthrough for Non-Human Performances
The film, based on Andy Weir's novel and released last month, stars Ryan Gosling as science teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace. It has been both a critical and commercial success, with much praise directed at the friendship between Gosling's character and Rocky, an alien creature brought to life through puppetry. Amazon MGM Studios is now preparing its awards campaign, and Ortiz will be submitted for consideration at the 99th Academy Awards.
According to Variety, this is permissible under current Academy rules, as puppeteers fall under the jurisdiction of the Screen Actors' Guild. Ortiz will also be eligible for BAFTA nominations but will not be considered at the Golden Globes.
Historical Context and Controversy
The debate over whether technical performances should be recognized in acting categories has persisted for years. In 1972, the Academy introduced the Special Achievement Award as a workaround for performances that might otherwise be overlooked, but it was primarily awarded to visual effects and sound technicians—most notably Ben Burtt, the Star Wars sound designer, who won for creating and voicing R2-D2. The category was discontinued in 1995.
Despite strong campaigns for actors like Andy Serkis—who portrayed Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes franchise—the Oscars have never nominated a puppeteer, voice actor, or motion-capture performer in a main acting category. In 2002, BAFTA nominated Eddie Murphy for his voice work as Donkey in Shrek, but the Oscars did not follow suit.
Ortiz on the Art of Puppetry
Speaking to Variety, Ortiz emphasized the emotional depth of puppetry: “Typically, we talk about puppetry as a technical achievement, and it is. It’s a spectacle. For me, as a performer, however, that’s never my entry point. I’m interested in the heart of the character—what they’re trying to communicate, what they’re feeling underneath all of it.”
He added: “When we can take a medium like puppetry, which is often seen as decorative, and bring to life a character with a beating heart in a way that genuinely affects people, then we’re doing something truly meaningful.”
Serkis's Unfulfilled Campaign
When director Peter Jackson lobbied for Andy Serkis to receive a nomination for his motion-capture performance in The Lord of the Rings, the Academy declined, arguing that it would be nominating the character rather than Serkis's acting skills. Serkis addressed the issue in 2012, telling Wired: “The acting community has worries about motion capture because they believe it’s some form of replacement for performance when in fact, it’s the opposite… motion capture is a tool that allows actors to transform themselves into many different characters. You’re not confined by physicality. You can play anything.”
If Ortiz secures a nomination for Rocky at next year's Oscars, it would mark a significant step toward recognizing such performances. Whether he wins or not, the nomination itself would be a historic acknowledgment of puppetry's role in cinematic storytelling.
