Best Aussie actor nod? No face required
By Garry Maddox
It must be brutal when actors watch a film and realise all their scenes have been cut. But what if, after more than four months of gruelling shooting, they only appear on screen as a chimpanzee?
That was British actor Jonno Davies’ fate on Better Man, Australian director Michael Gracey’s biopic that had pop superstar Robbie Williams portrayed by a digitally created primate, but he was far from disappointed.
Jonno Davies is nominated for best actor for his motion-capture performance in Better Man.Credit: Paul Harris
“It was so uplifting when I first watched the film, to see myself within that monkey,” Davies said after arriving at the Gold Coast for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. “To feel myself in there – the ad libs that I did – coming across the screen was brilliant.”
Davies wore an uncomfortable motion-capture suit throughout the shoot that allowed the visual effects team to create the chimp.
So did Davies’ family and friends ever doubt he was actually in Better Man – let alone its star – when they watched it?
“A lot of them said, ‘you were that monkey’,” he said. “They recognised my personal traits mixed in with Robbie and that was really touching.”
The previously little-known Davies has broken ground for a motion-capture performance by being nominated for best actor at the awards on Friday.
Better Man has a record 16 nominations. The action sequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and drama, How to Make Gravy, both have 15 nominations. In television, Netflix miniseries Boy Swallows Universe dominates with 22 nominations.
The awards have also broken ground with three actors who are just as invisible as Davies in their film nominated – Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who voiced characters in Adam Elliot’s Oscar-nominated animation, Memoir of a Snail.
But Davies’ monkeying around has a better chance of winning over Eric Bana (Force Of Nature: The Dry 2), David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), Daniel Henshall (How To Make Gravy) and Guy Pearce (The Convert).
He thought it was crazy that fellow Brit Andy Serkis had been overlooked for major award nominations for his legendary motion-capture performances as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies, and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes films.
Jonno Davies performs as Robbie Williams in Better Man. His motion-capture performance was the basis for a digitally created chimpanzee.Credit: Ben King
“You’ve had other performances before that have been nominated where [actors] have had very extensive make-up or prosthetics,” Davies said. “For me, it’s in the same realm. It’s just digital rather than a physical transformation.”
So should Davies have been included in the visual effects team nominated for an Oscar for Better Man?
“Oof,” he said. “It’s tricky because I didn’t have a say on how they animated …
“I suppose I was the original canvas, but I’m exceptionally proud of what [New Zealand VFX house] Weta achieved. They really set the bar for digital characters.”
The awards will be broadcast on the Ten Network.
The writer travelled to the Gold Coast as a guest of AACTA.
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