It’s been well over a decade since Andy Serkis floored us in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with Gollum’s incredible range of expression. The depth of character in the motion capture performance gave rise to the idea that roles such as these are worthy of awards consideration.
Now here we are, with 20th Century Fox firmly committed to giving Serkis an Oscar run for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, as well as the man being generally considered the industry guru for the relatively new artform. Between his own London-based digital studio The Imaginarium and his advisory/on-camera work on upcoming films like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Serkis is the focal point of “cyber-thespianism.” However, there have been many other stellar performances in the field, with the following ten being the absolute stand-outs.
The 10 Best Motion Capture Performances
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Andy Serkis
(Gollum - The Lord of the Rings, King Kong - King Kong, Captain Haddock - The Adventures of Tintin, Caesar - Planet of the Apes films)
It would be unfair to single out just one of the distinct characters that Serkis has created, although his Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and The Hobbit) was certainly the first such character to elicit awards attention. King Kong and Caesar are two sides of the same simian coin, one an innocent and the other a revolutionary, while Captain Haddock showed off Serkis' ample comic range. He remains the uncontested master of this medium of acting. -
Willem Dafoe
(Tars Tarkas - John Carter)
Sometimes a film's financial failure can overshadow its merits, as was the case with John Carter, which is far better than its performance at the box office indicates. Chief among its pleasures is Dafoe playing the steadfast four-armed warrior Tars Tarkas, whose bravery is more than equal to the title hero. The relationship he has with his shunned Thark daughter Sola (Samantha Morton) has a great deal of depth, the authenticity of which was aided by all the actors being present on set, often wearing stilts to simulate height. -
Mark Ruffalo
(Hulk - The Avengers)
Prior to Ruffalo, Bruce Banner's rage-fueled alter ego was portrayed a little too cartoonishly in 2003 by Eric Bana (mo-cap provided by director Ang Lee) and a little too lean and mean in 2008 by Edward Norton. The Hulk in Joss Whedon's Avengers struck the perfect balance between uncontrolled anger and heroism, and audiences couldn't get enough. Ultimately it was the decision to emphasize Banner's humanity over pathos, along with a greater degree of control over his actions, that made this Hulk roar to life. -
Seth Rogen
(Paul - Paul)
A primarily comic character had never been entirely pulled off in this medium until Seth Rogen strapped on an orange and black jump suit with image-capturing headgear to create a wisecracking, weed smoking alien trying to get back to his home planet. Rogen's relaxed, sardonic attitude was blended into scenes seamlessly, with the help of co-star Joe Lo Truglio who stood-in for him on location. The brainchild of stars/writers Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Paul helped pave the way for other CGI-driven comedies like Seth MacFarlane's Ted. -
Zoe Saldana
(Neytiri - Avatar)
James Cameron's biggest blockbuster might seem like it's building towards a giant forest battle between the native Na'vi tribes and the invading corporate Earth military... except it's not. The true climax comes when proud warrior Neytiri is finally face-to-face with Jake Sully, the human who has utilized a remote-operated Na'vi body to lead native forces and consequently fall in love with her. The tear she sheds as his hand caresses her face is pure, honest, with nary a hint that her character exists solely in a computer, all informed by Saldana. -
Billy Crudup
(Doctor Manhattan - Watchmen)
Doctor Manhattan can utter phrases as charged as, "The world's smartest man poses no more threat to me than does its smartest termite," with an icy, detached matter of factness. Crudup captures the tragedy of an omniscient god trying to hang on to the last shreds of the human being he once was, if not for his own sake than so he can bring himself to care about the billions of others who are about to be annihilated. It is at once frightening and heartbreaking, a perfectly minimalistic performance. -
Ray Winstone
(Beowulf - Beowulf)
Robert Zemeckis' first exploration of performance capture - The Polar Express - was filled with dead-eyed creepiness, but he nailed it on his second try with this wild retelling of the Old English saga that owes more to the paintings of Frank Frazetta than to high school English class. The most innovative stroke was hiring stout Winstone to play a muscular 20-something hero who's part Clint Eastwood, part Jesus and all man. Only in mo-cap could Winstone rip a dragon's heart out AND bed Angelina Jolie with maximum believability. -
Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner & Spencer Locke
(DJ, Chowder and Jenny - Monster House)
Aided by a hilariously inventive script co-written by "Community" creator Dan Harmon, Monster House was the first feature length performance capture movie that really worked because it eschewed the uncanny valley of human replicants for more storybook-style imagery. By hiring actual middle school-aged children to play the lead trio investigating a haunted house, the mischievous spirit of Steven Spielberg's '80s Amblin movies was given a spirited revival. -
Bill Nighy
(Davy Jones - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest & At World's End)
Part pirate/part Cthulhu, Davy Jones is the squid-bearded captain of the mythical ghost ship Flying Dutchman and is one seriously convincing CGI character. So realistic was ILM's work that many reviewers assumed he was either Nighy wearing elaborate makeup or a costume with digital face, when in fact he is a 100% computer-generated creation. Nighy instilled a believability by being present on set with markers on his face and body, as opposed to assembling the performance in a studio. -
Alan Tudyk
(Sonny - I, Robot)
Tudyk ("Firefly") gifted the mechanical servant Sonny in this Isaac Asimov adaptation with a soul and level of emotion that is quite unique in the annals of film. Opposite Will Smith's robot-hating Detective, Sonny becomes a beacon of hope for his ability to break away from the "3 Laws of Robotics" using his own free will. The on-set mo-cap performance never tips too far into robot cliches nor does it become annoyingly human/comic relief. This was one of the first indications that Andy Serkis was not alone in mastering this new art form.
