Warner Bros. Plans to Run a Best Supporting Actress Oscar Campaign for Scarlett Johansson's Voiceover-Only Role in 'Her'

Could Scarlett Johansson earn an Oscar nomination for a voiceover-only role? According to Deadline's Mike Fleming, Warner Bros. is hard at work trying to make that happen with a push for Johansson's performance in Her. In the film, the actress voices a computer system that connects with Joaquin Phoenix's character in what Fleming calls an "intense and heartbreaking" way. According to Fleming, the studio has checked to make sure her role in the Spike Jonze film would eligible for Best Supporting Actress.

The Academy has never nominated someone for a voiceover-only role, which would make Johansson's possible nomination historic. While I haven't seen Her yet, I would have to guess that this doesn't happen, solely on the fact that the Academy doesn't have a history of nominating people for non-flesh-and-blood roles. Take 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes for example. Andy Serkis' motion-capture performance was the heart and sole of that film, but for all the buzz over a possible Oscar nomination for Serkis, the movie failed to even win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. (That went to Hugo. What a joke.)

Interestingly enough, The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg released his most recent Feinberg Forecast for the 86th Oscars on Sunday night. After reading Deadline's story, I scrolled down Feinberg's to see how Johansson fared among his Best Supporting Actress possibilities. Lo and behold, there she was, leading the Major Threats category. If Johansson can overcome Twelve Years a Slave's Lupita Nyong'o, Lee Daniels' The Butler's Oprah Winfrey, American Hustle's Jennifer Lawrence, Blue Jasmine's Sally Hawkins and Nebraska's June Squibb, she could have a shot. That's a long shot, but still a shot.