Vanity Fair Reports That the Oscars Will Finally Introduce a Best-Casting Category After Years of Public Outcry

Authored by David Canfield

The Oscars are implementing a new category for the first time in over two decades.

After many years of demands for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to acknowledge casting directors in their yearly awards, the Board of Governors of the organization declared on a Thursday that it will at last do so. Starting with the 2026 ceremony, signifying for films premiered in 2025, the Oscars will award a yearly, competitive Academy Award for accomplishments in casting.

"The part played by casting directors in filmmaking is pivotal. With the Academy evolving, we are elated to include casting in the fields that we acknowledge and celebrate," said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang jointly. "Our congratulations to our Casting Directors Branch members on this thrilling event and their commitment throughout this progress."

The animated-feature prize, which was first given in 2002, is the first new category to be officially included. Before it, you have to recall back to 1981 when the first makeup and hairstyling Oscar was presented. Historically, the Academy’s governors have been opposed to additions. "They have no intention of adding awards if they can avoid it…. Keeping the number of Oscars awarded on the specified evening to a manageable number has its merits," stated Bruce Davis, who served as the Academy’s executive director for two decades.

Previously in 1999, a casting-award proposal was put forward to the governors and was ultimately turned down. Casting directors comprise an entire branch of the Academy (since 2013), and this craft is acknowledged by other awards bodies, including the Emmys. Jeanne McCarthy, casting director on Anchorman and Eileen, commented on the opposition to a casting Oscar, saying "Just as a costume designer would present a series of sketches to a director, it's a collaboration that rests on the casting director's intuition. This is a very vital part of filmmaking."

This view finally won acceptance. "Our gratitude to the Board of Governors, the Awards Committee, and Academy leadership for their support, on behalf of the Casting Directors Branch members," expressed Academy Casting Directors Branch governors Richard Hicks, Kim Taylor-Coleman, and Debra Zane. "This award is a testimony to our casting directors' outstanding skills and a tribute to the dedicated efforts of our branch."

More details concerning the award's eligibility and voting systems will be disclosed in April 2025, in conjunction with other rules updates to the Oscars.