“One Battle After Another” won its first casting Oscar on Sunday, and the award went to casting director Cassandra Kulukundis.Its win marks the inaugural Oscar for the category, the latest to be created by the academy since the award for best animated feature was established in 2001.Oscars 2026 live updates: Leonardo Dicaprio’s ‘One Battle After Another’ takes center stage with three Oscar wins “I dedicate this to casting directors who have never had the opportunity to come up here,” Kulukundis said after thanking the Academy for adding this award. He also thanked the director Paul Thomas Andersonpointing out that they “grew together” in a way, after working together in so many films. He also said he hoped to win an award tonight.He hugged fellow cast member Chase Infiniti before beginning his speech. While the cast of “One Battle After Another” is filled with A-list actors and household names, Infiniti made her feature film debut in a pivotal role in the film. Kulukundis said he saw “hundreds” of young actors before finding Infiniti for the role. Kulukundis has served as casting director on past Oscar favorites including “The Brutalist” and “There Will Be Blood.” He has worked on 10 feature films for director Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another,” starting in 1996 as an intern on his debut film, “Hard Eight.” “One Battle After Another” follows a former revolutionary who is forced to return to his old fighting lifestyle after a corrupt military officer harasses him and his teenage daughter. The action-thriller examines immigration, racism and systemic corruption in its nearly three-hour runtime. It has been praised for its all-star cast, which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and newcomer Infiniti. DiCaprio, Penn, del Toro and Taylor received acting nominations for their performances. Oscar casting does not recognize the performance of actors, unlike the Actor Awards and other similar awards. The award for Best Casting, on the other hand, recognizes Kulukundis’ creative process on stage and his collaboration with Anderson and the film’s producers to select the actors and make a cohesive team. Host Conan O’Brien added the new category in his opening monologue. Casting directors joked that they are “dream killers” and that the Academy “decided to go in a different direction” for those who didn’t win.The other nominees for the casting award were Nina Gold (“Hamnet”), Jennifer Venditti (“Marty Supreme”), Gabriel Domingues (“The Secret Agent”) and Francine Maisler (“Sinners”).
