The Academy hadn’t added a new competitive Oscar category since Best Animated Feature was established in 2001 and first awarded at the 2002 ceremony, when “Shrek” won. That changed on Sunday night with the debut of the Achievement in Casting Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards. The inaugural winner was Cassandra Kulukundis, who took the prize for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.”
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Kulukundis prevailed over fellow nominees Francine Maisler for Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” Jennifer Venditti for “Marty Supreme,” Nina Gold for “Hamnet,” and Gabriel Domingues for “The Secret Agent.” Domingues’ nomination was especially notable, with “The Secret Agent” becoming the first international film recognized in the category’s inaugural year.
A longtime Paul Thomas Anderson collaborator, Kulukundis has worked on all ten of the filmmaker’s features, with that relationship stretching back to 1996’s “Hard Eight.” Her work with Anderson includes “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” “Phantom Thread,” and “Licorice Pizza.” Outside the Anderson orbit, she has also cast films including “The Brutalist,” “Vox Lux,” “Her,” “Spartan,” “Art School Confidential,” “Ghost World,” “Breach,” and “Shattered Glass.”
With casting finally recognized by the Academy, Kulukundis now goes into the books as the first winner in the category’s history.
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