Oscars to recognise casting for the first time

Behind the Wizard of Oz, in the two-part Wicked movies were people actually pulling the strings. They set the table for the hit double-punch movies long before the cameras ever rolled out: The casting directors, helped pick who made it to Oz.

Oscars honour casting for the first time, offering a spotlight on a key job in the movie industry

“Our job is to know the actors that are out there or know how to find the actors that we don’t know,” says Bernard Telsey, one of the heavy hitters in the world of casting, who, with Tiffany Little Canfield, populated both Wicked movies.

Casting will get some Oscar love next year. A new prize for achievement in casting was added to the Academy Awards in March, a step casting directors believe is long overdue. The 98th Academy Awards will air live on ABC on March 15, 2026.

“It’s really hard for people to understand what it is that we do because it’s so private,” says Telsey. “It’s only going to make the profession that much stronger and people that much more aware of what we do.”

Feels invisible

The Emmys have three categories for casting, and the Critics Choice Awards just added a casting trophy this year. The casting industry has its own prize, the Artios Awards, first held in 1985. But the Golden Globes and Tony Awards don’t recognise the profession.

“When casting is great, it sometimes feels invisible. Because it’s so well done, you don’t see the fingerprints,” says Destiny Lilly, president of the 1,200-strong Casting Society who also works with Telsey.

“I think that it’s taken time just to get recognition for that art because a lot of the work that casting directors do happens before a lot of the rest of the production team is brought on board.”

Telsey, along with his team at The Telsey Office, casts in every medium, from the films Mary Poppins Returns and Kiss of the Spider Woman to TV shows like The Gilded Age and Only Murders in the Building. He came up through theater, casting such Tony Award-winners as Maybe Happy Ending, Kinky Boots and Hairspray.

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