Udisha
Cassandra Kulukundis is a seasoned casting director who won the inaugural Oscar for Achievement in Casting at the 98th Academy Award on Sunday for her work in One Battle After Another. In what was a female-dominated category, Cassandra won the first ever Oscar in a key aspect of filmmaking that had long been ignored.
PTA's long-term collaborator
Cassandra has been working with One Battle After Another director Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) for around thirty years. She had first interned on the director's 1996 movie Hard Eight. During her acceptance speech, she said that the two practically grew up together.
Cassandra x PTA
The casting director has since gone to work on a total of ten films so far with Paul Thomas Anderson, including Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012), Inherent Vice (2014), Phantom Thread (2017) and Licorice Pizza (2021),
Other notable works
Cassandra has also worked in other acclaimed films, not directed by Paul, such as, Ghost World, Shattered Glass, and The Brutalist. Her casting philosophy is marked by her drive to find new talent and give them the opportunity they deserve.
Acceptance speech
During her acceptance speech, Cassandra Kulukundis honoured the casting directors who had been neglected so far. She said, "I have to thank the Academy for even adding this category and for the casting directors who fought tirelessly to make it happen despite everything in their way. I dedicate this to you and to the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here, who didn’t even get a chance to get their name on the movie."