New Fox Searchlight Featurette Trumpets 'Sessions' Star John Hawkes (Video)

The Hollywood Reporter is pleased to exclusively debut Fox Searchlight's four-minute featurette promoting the performance of best actor Oscar hopeful John Hawkes in its best picture Oscar hopeful The Sessions.

our editor recommends

'The Sessions' Q&A with John Hawkes, Ben Lewin at AFI

Helen Hunt, Star of 'The Sessions,' Wants to Be Sex Positive

How to Laugh At (Or, With) Disability: Ben Lewin and 'The Sessions' Take an Unusual Journey

In the short clip, Hawkes, his co-stars (best supporting actor Oscar hopeful William H. Macy and best supporting actress Oscar hopeful Helen Hunt) and writer-director (best director and best adapted screenplay Oscar hopeful Ben Lewin) discuss the veteran character actor's portrayal of Mark O'Brien, a man in an iron lung because of childhood polio who desires to lose his virginity with the help of a professional "sex surrogate" and the blessing of his priest.

PHOTOS: Toronto 2012: THR Celebrates Film at Cocktail Party

The logistics and impact of how Hawkes curved his back, learned to perform basic tasks with a mouthpiece and changed his voice for the part also are discussed.

Hunt notes how much humor Hawkes managed to bring to a character who could have been played very differently, and Macy calls him "a very wonderful and, more importantly, skilled actor," adding that, "Even though he could only move his head, he acted me off the screen."