The Oscars announce a new award for 2026: best supporting cast director

When there is a month left until the Oscars and Hollywood is immersed in the whirlwind of its awards season, the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences springs a surprise: starting in 2026, its awards will create a new category, that of best casting direction. Films that are released in 2025 and that aspire to the 2026 awards will be eligible for the award.

This is the first time in almost 25 years that the Academy has created a new award, since in 2001 it created the best animated film category (which in 2002 won Shrek). It will be in the 98th edition of the gala when this recognition is awarded. “Casting directors play an essential role in film and as the Academy evolves, we are proud to add casting to the disciplines we recognize and celebrate,” Academy president Janet Yang and its director said in a joint statement. executive, Bill Kramer.

The Academy has around 10,500 members—last 2023 it incorporated almost 400 new ones—who are organized into 18 categories or branches, as they are called by the Academy: actors, producers, screenwriters, musicians, makeup artists, film executives, actors' representatives …and, since July 2013, also casting directors. They, the smallest branch, with 158 members, did not have a specific award. But as the Academy suggests in its statement, they have been fighting for some time to have this category. “We congratulate the members of our casting direction branch for this exciting achievement and for their commitment and diligence during this process,” the Academy wrote, while those responsible for said casting direction branch have also sent a statement giving the thanks to the Academy and its members for the support received. “This award is well-deserved recognition of the exceptional talent of our casting directors and a testament to the great efforts of our branch,” they stated.

Casting directors first fought to be part of the organization and have since fought to have their own award. It will be in April 2025 when the rules for voting and what the prize will be like will be announced, which will be awarded almost a year later for the first time. As the specialized media explains Variety, it was at the end of the nineties when a handful of members of the union began to try to have their work recognized, although their efforts did not come to fruition. In fact, since then it took almost 15 years to create a branch within the Academy for casting directors. David Rubin, one of its most illustrious members, has been first secretary and then director of the Film Academy, for three three-year terms.

The Oscars award 23 awards, and this will be the 24th, in a long gala that does not end up engaging viewers; Between 16 and 20 million people watch it every year. Not all awards are announced at the grand gala, which this year takes place on March 10, as it would be too long. At the moment, it is unknown whether this award will be included in the televised broadcast or not, whether it will only be in its first years or whether it will remain. What the viewer likes most is to see the stars, and in this case it depends on how the question is: if only the casting director himself is awarded and goes up to collect it or if the entire cast is also awarded and they go up together to the stage, as is already the case in awards such as the Critics Choice and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which always award a very brilliant award to the best cast.