Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on casting. Whether it’s that Dev Patel should have played Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, or that the casting in Marty Supreme was nothing short of genius, the internet has made casting in cinema a hot topic. Of course, casting has always been an integral part of the making of a film. The famous quote “90 per cent of successful movie making is in the casting” comes to mind – although people can’t decide if it was Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese or another director who said that one. But it took some time for the general public to care about casting directors themselves, and a 50-year struggle to get a Best Casting category into the Oscars.

On Sunday, the Academy Awards will give their first trophy to a casting director. It’s a big deal. It’s the first new category to be added to the Oscars in 24 years, and it’s a category that’s often female-dominated (whereas the Academy Awards themselves have the opposite track record). About 74 per cent of casting directors are women, and so, for too long, it suffered the curse of being invisible labour. Casting directors weren’t known as the directors themselves could be – until more recently. With the likes of Jennifer Venditti, the casting director behind Marty Supreme’s incredible combination of one hundred-plus professional actors and non-professional actors (many of whom were street cast), being a recognised figure in her own right, casting is finally getting its flowers.

“So grateful for all the hard work my casting colleagues had done, for many years, to make this category possible,” Venditti told me, calling the recognition of casting as an art form a win for “all of us,” including the casting directors that came before her. When asked why casting is sparking so many conversations, Venditti points to the young casting directors scouting and casting on Instagram. “For years, there were only a handful of people in the fashion world that did what I did, and now there are people all over the world,” she says. “In the end, casting to me is a portal into exploring humanity and expanding our compassion and empathy towards others, so the more the merrier!”

Venditti is only a new name to those not in the casting world. To Michele Mansoor, one of the rising young casting directors that Venditti was referring to, she was once her boss. Mansoor started casting with Jen as an intern, and calls her “one of the pioneers of streetcasting”. It’s exactly the style of casting that, recently, people have become captivated by. “I think people see themselves in streetcasting; the different kinds of beauty and life experiences shown on the biggest stages get people talking,” says Mansoor. “People are inspired by hearing stories of people who never dreamed of being in a film, but never thought it would happen.”

When Nafisa Kaptownwala and Natalie Lin, the casting directors behind In Search Of, watched Marty Surpreme, they saw a few familiar faces. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s our assistant’s ex-boyfriend!” says Kaptownwala. “It felt local and authentic.” But she was also excited by the casting of Junglepussy in One Battle After Another. Ultimately, no matter who wins on Sunday, Kaptownwala says it is a “really great year for casting”. “I think people are starting to understand what casting is because it’s been niche for a long time,” says Lin. “Now, with streetcasting specifically, it’s becoming this huge portal for curiosity, as the craft has gotten more intentional, and the internet has completely changed casting.”

All Oscar categories are subjective. If you ask different people who should win anything, you’ll get different answers, and casting is the same. To Kaptownwala and Lin, what makes for good casting just comes down to authenticity. “It’s really that simple,” says Kaptownwala. To Miss Dylan, casting director at Pulse Casting, the beauty of the casting in Marty Supreme was that it was less about putting together a bunch of big names and more about how the actors themselves in the real world had an effect on our understanding of them. 

“I could tell you three different reasons why I could Hamnet, One Battle After Another and Marty Supreme winning,” Miss Dylan says. “For me personally, it’s Marty Supreme, but they all spark different conversations and are equally as deserving.” In Hamnet, for example, Nina Gold cast real-life siblings for the core child actors, and Cassandra Kulukundis underwent extensive street casting for One Battle After Another. For years, Mansoor says she’s been confused as to why casting hasn’t been an Oscar-recognised category.

“For years, there were only a handful of people in the fashion world that did what I did, and now there are people all over the world. In the end, casting to me is a portal into exploring humanity and expanding our compassion and empathy towards others, so the more the merrier!” – Jennifer Venditti

When speaking to multiple different casting directors, you’ll soon find that they usually ask who else you’re speaking to (which isn’t really a surprise considering their profession). “Casting directors are very competitive, but also everyone’s friends,” another rising casting director, Sam Franco, told me. “More people are becoming casting directors, and there’s this creative accessibility where we have these social platforms now to promote our work.” This, says Franco, has led people to recognise and follow along the journey of different casting directors, depending on their styles. “Just like a filmmaker does, everyone has their own voice and vision, and you’re able to have a favourite casting director now,” she says.

The casting process, especially for street casting, is often emotional and vibe-driven, alongside the obvious aesthetic requirements. Franco tells me about casting Edge City with the Ross brothers. “A huge part of my casting process is about understanding someone on an emotional level and finding people who have the soul of the characters,” she says. “I like to find those needle-in-a-haystack characters who are not just compelling in their acting craft, but as a whole person.”

After spending hours searching for new faces or established ones that we are delightfully introduced to in a new context, casting directors watch the world fall in love with the people that caught their eye. Now, they’re witnessing the world fall in love with their craft. And the inaugural casting Oscar will only confirm a shift that’s already underway. It shows the young casting directors that Venditti speaks so fondly of that a new level of recognition is possible in their craft. “Winning an Oscar is kind of everyone’s dream, but I’m also just glad that it’s getting recognition,” says Miss Dylan.

Perhaps most importantly, really good casting can also inspire a curiosity in the people around us. As Venditti puts it: “Let’s make it a world where we are all curious about each other.