US EditionOscars recognize casting for the first time, offering a spotlight on a key job in the movie industry
The Academy will honor casting directors for the first time with a new Oscar category starting at the 98th Awards, recognizing their essential but often unseen work.
- The Academy announced in March it added a prize for casting, which will debut at the 98th Academy Awards on ABC on March 15, 2026.
- Industry history shows separate recognition via the Artios Awards, which casting directors say highlights their largely invisible and private work since 1985, Casting Society president Destiny Lilly noted.
- Bernard Telsey and Tiffany Little Canfield populated both Wicked films, while The Telsey Office casts films like Mary Poppins Returns and shows such as The Gilded Age, with Telsey attending theatre five nights weekly.
- Casting directors expect the change to strengthen the profession and raise awareness, while the Emmys and Critics Choice Awards recognize casting, but the Golden Globes and Tony Awards do not this year.
- Most projects give only a short time to cast, and tightening budgets increase pressure on casting directors, while actors moving between film, television and theatre require adaptation by producers and production teams.
13 Articles
13 Articles
IndieWire Craft Roundtables: As Oscars Add Best Casting, Its Experts Explain the Job’s Real Power
In celebration of the Academy's first year honoring casting with its own Oscar category, the casting directors behind three of 2025's most inventive films join IndieWire's craft roundtables to break down what they do.
Associated Press News
Oscars recognize casting for the first time, offering a spotlight on a key job in the movie industry
Casting directors have long been the unsung heroes behind films like “Wicked.” Bernard Telsey and Tiffany Little Canfield are among those who helped populate the two-part movie.
Oscars to honor casting for the first time, spotlighting a vital filmmaking craft - The New Nation
Behind the world of Oz in the two-part “Wicked” films were the people responsible for choosing who would inhabit it. Long before filming began, casting directors were quietly shaping the production by selecting the actors who ultimately brought the story to life. “Our job is to know every actor out there — or know how to find the ones we don’t,” said Bernard Telsey, one of the industry’s leading casting directors who, along with Tiffany Little C…
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