“…When I first saw the film, the remote possibility of Ms. Saldana getting a nomination for her performance was tantalizing. I rationalized that Sigourney Weaver’s turn, part CG and part human, was more likely to be the breakthough nomination. But I have been struck by how many people, Academy members included, have remarked on the emotional weight of Saldana’s performance holding the movie together. She is both very physical and very raw emotionally… something we have not really seen since Ms. Weaver in Mr. Cameron’s Aliens.”

“…In the manner of a silent-film actress Saldana’s emoting is necessarily broad, and I understand the uninformed suspicion that it’s not she who deserves the credit as much as the motion-capture tweaks that fine-tuned her performance, but my heart knows what it feels. Saldana got me.”

Having finally seen Avatar, I concur. Zoe Saldana totally sells you on the character and the world of Pandora in general. She probably won’t get nominated, but she deserves to be considered at the very least. (As for the movie itself, I thought it was mindblowingly beautiful to look at, but the story was definitely paper thin. Worth seeing, though.)

featurette on Avatar‘s performance capture technology

a scene from Avatar with Zoe Saldana