Scarlett Johansson’s voice actress in “Her” is not eligible for the Golden Globes

At what point does an award-worthy acting performance no longer qualify for an award? According to the Golden Globes, this limit is exceeded when an actor is not physically present in the film – and this is exactly the situation actress Scarlett Johansson finds herself in now.

Johansson is getting a lot of buzz this awards season for her performance in “Her,” the “small-future” sci-fi drama from director Spike Jonze. But despite all that positive buzz, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the folks behind the Golden Globes) recently ruled that the actress is ineligible for a Best Supporting Actress nomination. The reason? Johansson’s role in “Her” consists solely of her voice.

In the film, the 29-year-old actress plays “Samantha,” a personalized operating system (OS) who becomes the ever-present digital companion and eventual lover of lonely writer Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix). She’s a hyper-intelligent computer (think a smoky-voiced version of Siri on steroids) who forms an unlikely bond with Phoenix’s character. Johansson recently won Best Actress at the Rome Film Festival for “Her” and is now considered an awards season favorite despite her Globes rejection.

Fortunately, the “Don Jon” actress was not shut out of the other major awards ceremonies. A nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars or the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards would set an important precedent. If ScarJo were to receive an Oscar nomination for “Her,” it would be the highest honor ever given to a purely speaking role. This would likely open the door to other “heard but not seen” performances, such as voice work in animated films and motion capture performances.

Many would argue that actor and motion capture artist Andy Serkis paved the way for this situation. The actor received much praise for his motion capture/voice performances as computer-generated characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the titular primate in King Kong, and as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Serkis himself did not appear on screen in any of these roles, but impressed audiences and critics alike with his performance. Fans lobbied on several occasions to have this work recognized at the Oscars, but these efforts never came to fruition.

What do you think? Does an actor have to be fully physically present in a film to qualify for a major award? Or do you want talented actors like Johansson and Serkis to finally get the recognition they deserve?

“Her” will be in theaters on December 18th.