After nearly 100 ceremonies, the Academy Awards will finally recognize casting directors. When four of the first five Oscar nominees in the category assembled at the Culver Theater in Culver City on Wednesday for a panel hosted by TheWrap, the group shared a similar sentiment: It’s about time.
“I think it’s kind of sad that it took that long,” said Cassandra Kulukundis, nominated this year for “One Battle After Another.” “I’m realizing on this journey that people really don’t understand what we do. It’s the same as anything, like a costume designer: You study for hours, you know the history, you know the looks.”
“We’re treated as the most important department at the beginning of the project, and we’re the first forgotten at the end,” said Jennifer Venditti, nominated for “Marty Supreme.” “This hopefully will change. We’ll change that because we’re now in the room with everyone where people are dissecting the films and celebrating the artistry.”
Kulukundis and Venditti were joined by fellow nominees Francine Maisler (“Sinners”) and Gabriel Domingues (“The Secret Agent”) at a Q&A moderated by Steve Pond. The group lamented the absence of Nina Gold, who rounds out the group of nominees for her work in “Hamnet.”
“We are part of Academy history,” Maisler said to applause. She later pointed out that she was joined in the room by Lynn Kressel, the first winner of Outstanding Achievement in Casting for a Miniseries or a Special at the Emmys for “Lonesome Dove.” Kressel gave Maisler her first casting gig.
“Casting directors are amazing people who lift other people up,” Maisler said. “That we’re being lifted up at this moment means a lot to us and all of those casting directors that came before us.”
“We’re around the world. And that’s why I’m so pleased that you’re here with us,” Maisler continued, turning to Domingues. “It shows how far-reaching the casting community is.”
Domingues stands alone as the only nominee this year representing a film not primarily in the English language. His is one of four nominations secured by Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” also recognized for Best International Feature (Brazil), Best Actor (Wagner Moura) and Best Picture.
“I thought that I had no chance to be nominated, because nobody knew me. Nobody knows me in this industry,” Domingues said. “But the movie, it speaks for itself. I was very impressed, happily impressed, that the quality and the good work got the recognition in this industry. . . People don’t usually think this way. They think there’s more lobbying and networking in this kind of business . . . but the simple fact that I’m here and I came all the way from Brazil, shows that the movie says the most. The work says the most. I’m super happy to be surrounded by these amazing professionals that I admire so much.”
As the panel progressed, the four casting directors seemed to be almost interviewing each other, tossing questions and follow-ups about their individual processes and relationships with their directors. Kulukundis, who has worked with Paul Thomas Anderson since the beginning of his career, laughed about how spending decades in this industry has affected her (“I’m plagued because all I do is stare at all of your faces and I’m like, ‘What can I do with you?’”). She also joked about Anderson’s highly secretive nature as a filmmaker.
“He doesn’t want you to come to dinner until the food is on the table,” Kulukundis said of Anderson, who spent decades developing “One Battle After Another.” “At some point, I’m just like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to give me the script.’”
Venditti, a former documentarian who has worked with Josh and Benny Safdie for more than a decade, made a similar comment about her filmmakers (this year, she also worked on “The Smashing Machine” with Benny).
“It’s kind of like the movie — it’s chaos,” she said. “I have to be the person that is controlling the chaos, but there is a lot happening at one time. We’re creating experiences that are similar to the film in the audition room and seeing who can bring the energy.”
“This is why these directors only work with these ladies,” Maisler said of Kulukundis and Venditti.
Domingues, meanwhile, noted that Filho’s casting requests would sometimes be hyperspecific, giving him a narrow runway for the actors he needed to find.
“Kleber told me, ‘This lady must be exactly like a friend of my mother that I met in the ‘70s called Teresa Victoria. I met her and she was like an African woman living in Recife with very high educational levels like a university professor.’ And I was like, ‘OK…’” Domingues laughed before continuing. “‘And she’s gotta have this accent from Angola, but it might be Mozambique if you find the right actor.’ I was like, ‘OK.’
“If I prefer when it’s, like, it’s gotta be very specific,” Domingues added. “Because I know what won’t work and what I can’t present and what I can’t bring up, and so the research gets more structured on the right parameters.”
All of the casting directors noted that the spirit of discovery makes their jobs more exciting, with several pointing to the relatively new names they pulled into their films. Vendetti recalled her fight for Odessa A’zion to star in “Marty Supreme.” When Josh Safdie didn’t see the actress as the right fit for the part, Vendetti workshopped an audition with A’zion until the filmmaker eventually admitted he was wrong.
Maisler, meanwhile, knew that Miles Caton was the right pick for young Sammie from the moment she heard his voice — even if his initial audition tape left something to be desired.
“We got in a tape for a young man that we couldn’t really see because he had done his tape in his basement. He had never auditioned before, and so he didn’t, I guess, know that he’s supposed to turn on the lights,” Maisler said. “Then this voice came out of this dark room, and I’ll never forget watching it. I sent it to Ryan and the producers and said, ‘You’re not gonna be able to see him, but could you just listen to his voice?’ and they felt the same way. Then we told him to turn on the lights.”
A similar big find came in “One Battle After Another,” where Kulukundis placed young actress Chase Infiniti against Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn for her first movie. Kulukundis said that actors like Infiniti make her love extensive casting searches.
“Chase saved my life, and I think that she’s truly a remarkable person, a remarkable talent, and I don’t think she even knows it. She doesn’t even know half her power,” she said. “That was many years in the making, and I couldn’t be happier that she’s here now for everyone to watch for the rest of our lives.”
Before anyone knew exactly what “Sinners” would become, writer-director Ryan Coogler sold it to Maisler as “this small, very personal film.” In a move indicative of her love for their films and their filmmakers, Maisler initially agreed to work below her quote. After “Sinners” caused a bidding war, she said, a producer called to offer pay her normal rate. Maisler said she would’ve been happy either way.
“I don’t know where the 35 years have gone, but it goes very quickly,” she said. “I have to say, I think everybody on this panel will say this, which is we love being casting directors.”
Watch the full conversation here.
