This year’s Baftas will be the first to honour the people who chose the actors we’re used to see clutching their statuettes. When will the
Oscars follow suit?
![Casting directors are essential to any great film – so where are their Oscars?](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/58fb7ab9a2c618ae59e56e96e9d763ba6bd818ca/0_0_3504_2102/master/3504.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=63b26564eefec347d082f6afb5e4ce6d)
As the buildup to the Oscars gets noisier, spare a thought for casting directors. They have, yet again, been given the cold shoulder. While producers, editors and special effects nerds all get to vie for the world’s most famous statuette, casting directors do not. There is no Oscar for them to tearfully clutch. Indeed, it is a rare thing when an actor, fresh from receiving the industry’s top prize, remembers to thank the person responsible for getting them the role in the first place.
Change is long overdue. While the Baftas on Sunday will present an inaugural award for casting, there is no sign that the Academy is considering following suit. Casting directors have been lobbying for decades to be given their own category, but to no avail. “It’s not about just getting a gong,” says Fiona Weir, who cast Love Actually and the Fantastic Beasts films. “It’s about the profession we love being acknowledged.”