Nearly 20 years since it last added a competitive category to this pristine award ceremony, the Academy Awards has added a new Oscar category for best casting. 

The category will be implemented for the 98th annual award ceremony, with films released in 2025 eligible to receive the honors. 

The Casting Directors Branch, which was established in 2023, has put up a long and hard fight to make this dream become a reality. With other award ceremonies like the Emmys and the British Academy Film Awards that already have a category recognizing casting directors, this decision was long overdue. 

One of the first things screenwriters usually come up with when writing a film is their protagonist and other characters. Who is their story about? Why does their story matter? 

What makes a great film is creating good and complex characters that the audience can invest in. Having these characters that audiences love and grow attached to makes them way more invested and is what makes the film do well. 

Aside from having great characters, the people chosen to portray these characters also play a huge factor. Many people will remember a beloved character, but they will also remember the actor or actress who portrayed them and how they were perfect for the role. Could you imagine someone else playing Iron Man besides Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”)?

When actors and actresses step into these roles, they essentially have to transform into these characters and truly become them. They want to make sure they are sealing the deal and showing audiences this character and telling their story. It is an actor or actress’ job to act, but not every actor and actress can fully immerse themselves into roles as easily as others or portray the character as the writer intended so. 

Although this may be the case, sometimes there are various actors and actresses who can do this perfectly that are all going for the same role. But at the end of the day, the casting director along with other production crew members must only choose one, which can be a very difficult decision. There is a lot at stake when choosing an actor or actress for a role, especially when it is a highly anticipated film or a film based on a book series. 

Book adaptations of films already have fans coming in who have followed this story for years, fan-casting people for certain characters. Therefore, not only must casting directors find someone who fits the role perfectly, but they also have to consider their fanbase and target audience and what they would want to see. 

This is why casting directors have such an important role and why ‘Best Casting” should have been implemented as an Oscar category many moons ago.

Many people may not realize the importance of a casting director and the crucial role they play in filmmaking. A filmmaker ultimately has a lot of goals for their film, but all of them want to be successful from it. The casting director picking a stacked cast is crucial, as most films find success through having a great cast. 

With casting directors having such a difficult but important role, they truly deserve this recognition. Hopefully, the Academy will continue to grow in the years to come with its Oscars categories and recognize other important roles in the film industry.

Image from Greg Hernandez via Flickr