Zoe Saldaña Calls Out Awards for Overlooking CGI Performances: “it is quite deflating”

Zoe Saldaña is known for starring in some of the biggest movie franchises. She plays Neytiri in ‘Avatar,’ Gamora in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Avengers’ movies, and Uhura in the ‘Star Trek’ reboot series. These roles demonstrate her talent for bringing strong, complex characters to life, often with the help of CGI and motion capture technology.

It’s exactly this technology that’s also barred her from winning major awards. Saldaña recently commented on the fact that actors who use CGI in their roles are often overlooked during game awards.

The actress believes that awards bodies often struggle to recognize performances involving CGI, due to traditional mindsets and resistance to change. While she isn’t bitter, she finds it disheartening and frustrating to have her efforts overlooked and dismissed despite giving her all to such roles.

They do. Old habits die hard, and when you have old establishments, it’s really hard to bring forward change. And I understand that, so I’m not bitter about it, but it is quite deflating when you give 120 percent of yourself into something. I mean, not winning is OK, not being nominated is OK, but when you’re overlooked and then minimized and completely disregarded…

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Saldaña is a strong contender for an Oscar this year for ‘Emilia Pérez,’ but her past performances in ‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek,’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ were often overlooked by the Academy. Some wonder if her sci-fi roles, like Neytiri in ‘Avatar,’ where she’s heavily altered by CGI, contributed to this.

Despite ‘Avatar’ winning three Oscars, including for visual effects, it didn’t receive any acting nominations, even though James Cameron pushed for Saldaña to be recognized. Many traditionalists see acting as tied to physical, visible performances and may undervalue the artistry involved in portraying a character through CGI, assuming the technology does much of the work.

Additionally, there’s a lack of understanding about the skill required to bring depth and emotion to these roles, which often combine physical acting, voice work, and collaboration with visual effects teams. But then again, if you are to recognize the artistry behind it, you might as well reward the visual effects teams and not the actors themselves.

It’s a really complicated issue, but as more nad more movie rely on technology, we’re likely bound to see some change. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!