Yesterday afternoon TheWrap‘s Steve Pond reported that Scarlett Johansson‘s impressive voice-only performance in Spike Jonze’s Her won’t be eligible for a Best Actress Golden Globe. I wrote in my 10.13 Her review that Johansson’s performance as a software program named “Samantha” “may be her most expressive ever.” But “the part has fallen victim to a Hollywood Foreign Press Association rule that says voice performances are not eligible for acting awards,” Pond reports.
And yet I can’t strongly disagree with a response by Wrap commenter “Joe S.” “Let’s face it, Scarlett is only being considered for acting awards because she’s a celebrity,” he writes. “It wasn’t long ago that ‘no name’ actors did the bulk of voice-over work and there was never even a thought of awards consideration. None. Zero. Nada. And if Scarlett looked like Julie Kavner or the late Marcia Wallace, there would be NO CHANCE IN HELL of [any awards attention]. Scarlett’s is akin to a phone-sex performance so [do] you think there would be a push if the voice performance was, say, from Linda Hunt or Gabourey Sidibe??”
I disagree that Johansson’s performance is “akin to phone-sex” — it goes much deeper than that. But I do wonder if she would be getting the same level of attention if she wasn’t, you know, hot and foxy.
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