New York [US], June 13: Tom Hanks doesn't support a separate category for voice work at the Oscars.
"I think they have enough categories," Hanks told Gold Derby of the Academy Awards in an interview published Tuesday. "The truth is, just a voice actor can win Best Actor. The judgment is any performance that moved you, so that's a quality.
And Hanks should know. The Big star took home back-to-back trophies in 1994 and 1995, for his starring roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. He's been nominated four other times. He's also been an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that hands out the little gold men.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
"We have talked about, for example, Andy Serkis for whatnot. Even though he does not appear as Andy Serkis, he gives all the raw material to it," Hanks said of the actor known for playing creatures in franchises including The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes.
"And there's been people who have been close to being nominated that do not appear on camera. That could happen to a pure vocal actor."
To confirm, Hanks was asked if he preferred that Oscars voters were simply more open-minded.
"If they are moved, that means that they are moved by a human being's performance," Hanks said. "That's all the requirement."
For all his work in live-action films, Hanks is known for his animated projects, too. He's voiced the character Woody in the Toy Story movies since they debuted in 1995.
The blockbuster franchise features the voice of Hanks, as well as such stars as Tim Allen and Joan Cusack, as they portray a group of living toys.
"Over the course of five movies, we've gone back to the same confines, and it's the same geometry," he told Entertainment Weekly in April.
"The mic is here, the stand is there, the team is there. They might have some props or what have you, but if you could have taken me at any point in all of the recording of all of these, I experienced the same anxiety, pressure, physical demands of it. So there actually is a familiar sameness."
Toy Story 5 arrives in theaters June 19.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
