{"id":120743,"date":"2026-01-05T13:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120743\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T13:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:11:11","slug":"oscars-6-top-casting-directors-explain-their-secret-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120743\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscars: 6 top casting directors explain their secret to success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why on earth it took until now is a long story. The important thing is that, in 2026, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will finally join the BAFTAs, the Canadian Screen Awards, Australia\u2019s AACTAs, Ireland\u2019s IFTAs and Italy\u2019s David di Donatellos in bestowing a statuette upon casting directors.<\/p>\n

The award \u201cmarks the long-overdue recognition of the impact casting professionals have made and will continue to make in our industry,\u201d says Casting Society President Destiny Lilly in an emailed statement. \u201cThe Oscar not only honors the excellence of the individual and their team, but also affirms the art of casting as a vital cinematic craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Envelope spoke to six ace casting directors \u2014 whose talents benefited at least 13 films this awards season \u2014 about the nature of their work.<\/p>\n

Nina Gold<\/p>\n

\u201cBallad of a Small Player,\u201d \u201cHamnet,\u201d \u201cJay Kelly\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jessie <\/p>\n

Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal in \u201cHamnet.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Focus Features)<\/p>\n

Working in tandem with the director, a casting director \u201cprovides the flesh and blood, human elements of the film,\u201d Gold writes in an email about the nature of the gig \u2014 identifying \u201cone sole person to play each role, out of boundless possibilities.\u201d She leans into the culinary metaphor when asked about her secret sauce. \u201cIt is all about picking great, high-quality ingredients, and figuring out how to blend the right flavors together into a whole, without curdling. It requires a lot of stirring and never taking one\u2019s eye off the pot.\u201d Her greatest challenge on \u201cHamnet,\u201d for instance, was searching for the boy himself, his twin sister and his older one. \u201cTo find children \u2014 Jacobi [Jupe], Olivia [Lynes] and Bodhi [Rae Breathnach] \u2014 with such access to their inner lives, and connection to their emotions, in such simple, truthful ways, was total joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cassandra Kulukundis<\/p>\n

\u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Chase Infiniti in \u201cOne Battle After Another.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warners Bros. Pictures)<\/p>\n

Kulukundis says anonymity is her X-factor. Few people know who the reserved veteran is, so no one sees her coming \u2014 which allows her to wield her curiosity to discover potential players out in the real world. Her chief obstacle on \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d was finding who would bring the Willa character to life. \u201cShe had to be somebody you just fell in love with,\u201d says Kulukundis, adding that one of her utmost pleasures has been seeing the actor cast \u2014 relative newcomer Chase Infiniti \u2014 grow from being a \u201creally internal, sweet, lovely\u201d young woman into a superstar. \u201cI will feel like her godmother, aunt, older sister, whatever for the rest of my life,\u201d says Kulukundis. \u201cIf I never talk to her for 20 years, she could call me from jail, I will be there in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tiffany Little Canfield and Bernard Telsey<\/p>\n

\u201cKiss of the Spider Woman,\u201d \u201cWicked: For Good\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cynthia <\/p>\n

Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in \u201cWicked: For Good.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Giles Keyte \/ Universal Pictures)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m willing to take as long as it takes to make sure we\u2019ve tried to find every possible idea and every possible actor that could be right for that role,\u201d says Telsey of the duo\u2019s superpower, adding that on every project, the principal thrill is knowing that the victor has been told they got the job. Their highest hurdle on their current pair of projects was honoring the legacy of each one\u2019s source material \u2014 not just bestselling novels and beloved Broadway shows, but in the case of \u201cSpider Woman,\u201d the 1985 film. \u201cThe legacy of Terrence McNally was really important to us because we knew him, and his husband was one of our producers, so it felt very close to him,\u201d adds Little Canfield of the \u201cSpider Woman\u201d musical\u2019s late book writer. \u201cI love [McNally\u2019s] work so much \u2014 it\u2019s so meaningful \u2014 that I just really tried to imagine what he would want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francine Maisler<\/p>\n

\u201cElla McCay,\u201d \u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,\u201d \u201cThe Lost Bus\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The cast of \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warner Bros. Pictures)<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I have a special sauce,\u201d says Maisler, asserting she \u2014 like all of her esteemed peers \u2014 simply works tirelessly to expertly match the perfect actor to each part. \u201cI\u2019ve just been very lucky to get to work with some incredible artists.\u201d Her best and worst moments in the job mirrors that reverence for the work. \u201cTelling an actor they got the job. Telling an actor they didn\u2019t get the job,\u201d she confesses, adding, \u201cGetting a chance to meet Bruce Springsteen. Getting a chance to meet Bruce Springsteen, but being too nervous to meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer Venditti<\/p>\n

\u201cBugonia,\u201d \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Aidan Delbis in \u201cBugonia.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Atsushi Nishijima \/ Focus Features)<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like people always come to me when they\u2019re looking for something very difficult or very unique,\u201d says Venditti, stating that her great gift is a willingness to dive deep into different communities to discover the actors who will rise to the top to win the job. Specifically, on \u201cBugonia,\u201d she reveals that director Yorgos Lanthimos \u201calways wanted a discovery, someone that was not an experienced actor\u201d for the role of Don. Finding first-timer Aidan Delbis was quite the coup. \u201cIt was a challenge to know if someone was gonna be able to be in that world and be opposite those heavy-hitters Emma [Stone] and Jesse [Plemons],\u201d she says, conceding that she was wowed by the trio\u2019s chemistry. \u201cTo see him rise to the occasion\u2026 was very satisfying.\u201d Another puzzle? The 140 roles in \u201cMarty Supreme.\u201d \u201cThere were just so many levels,\u201d she acknowledges. \u201cIt was a huge job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why on earth it took until now is a long story. The important thing is that, in 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[63603,6758,1758,1924,63605,4194,63606,48,52,51,47,50,49,63604,48465,1506,6049,8272,53000,18901,1968],"class_list":["post-120743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-actor-cast","tag-award","tag-director","tag-film","tag-inner-life","tag-job","tag-kulukundis","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-old-one","tag-oscar","tag-project","tag-role","tag-secret","tag-spider-woman","tag-springsteen","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}