Oscars add new ‘Best Casting’ category for 2026
Ahead of the 98th edition of the Oscars on March 10th, the Academy Awards have announced they will be adding a new category for ‘Best Casting’. The Board of Governors revealed the news on February 8th, but revealed the category wouldn’t come to fruition until 2026.
The ‘Best Casting’ award is the first new category the Academy have added since 2001 when they introduced ‘Best Animated Feature Film.’ Prior to announcing the new prize, The Casting Directors Branch was formed in 2013 and has accrued 160 members.
Bill Kramer, Academy CEO, and Janet Yang, Academy President, said in a statement, “Casting directors play an essential role in filmmaking, and as the Academy evolves, we are proud to add casting to the disciplines that we recognise and celebrate. We congratulate our casting Directors’ Branch members on this exciting milestone and their commitment and diligence throughout the process.”
A joint statement was also made by governors of the Academy Casting Director Branch, which reads: “On behalf of the members of the Casting Directors Branch, we’d like to thank the Board of Governors, the Awards Committee and Academy leadership for their support. This award is a deserved acknowledgement of our casting directors’ exceptional talents and a testament to the dedicated efforts of our branch.”
As yet, there are no rules for eligibility and voting, but these are set to be announced at a later date. The specifics are going to be determined by the Academy’s Board of Governors.
There has been an ongoing attempt to get casting directors more recognition for many decades, and the film industry has warmly received the decision by the Academy.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer leads the nominations for the 2024 edition of the Oscars, receiving nods in categories including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’, and ‘Best Actor’.
Following his ‘Best Actor’ nomination, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy said: “I don’t think you would have believed it or seen it as a possibility or anything like that; I just wanted to make theatre and make good theatre, and then you do a small part in a short film and then a small part in a film — we’ve talked about this really gradual procses and I think that’s why I’m able to deal with it and able to enjoy it.”
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