Best Casting: Ranking Every Nominee of the 98th Academy Awards
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Welcome to another year of the Academy Awards Project here on Films Fatale! We rank all of the nominees in each category every day.
A category that many have fought for for years is Best Casting, and it has finally arrived at the Academy Awards; it always felt odd to not have it when the SAG Awards have celebrated the strongest casts of any given year for quite some time. While this has been a long time coming, it actually feels incredibly fitting that this is the year that the category finally got included because the nominees push the boundaries of what great casting can look like (especially some in particular). In a rudimentary sense, good casting involves selecting the right people to play each part. That is a given, and most films — even awful ones — at least have decent casting (you will know when a part has been grossly miscast, and this can happen even in films that are pretty good). Strong casting is not meant to be noticeable (kind of like strong film editing); as long as a good job has been done, you aren’t really supposed to notice that there was someone selecting each performer at all (maybe this is why the Academy had this oversight for nearly a century). However, with this years nominees, some of the films challenge what good casting can even look like, going against the norm by — if anything — making you hyper aware of their stunt casting (and in an impressive way; not one of failure). Here are your nominees for Best Casting, ranked from worst to best.
Warning: enough of these descriptions may have potential or blatant spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.
5. The Secret Agent-Gabriel Domingues
Gabriel Domingues’ casting choices for The Secret Agent are great, and it is nice to see this surprising nomination come to fruition. I have only placed it last because of how much of the film rests on the shoulders of star Wagner Moura; the supporting actors around him are also quite strong and no one sticks out like a sore thumb, but I do think that the four other nominees just added even more flair. I will say that this nomination is especially interesting because of the decision to have Moura play his character’s grown up son years after the majority of the film’s story takes place; Moura is such a brilliant actor that you fully buy that this is not the same person, and the casting risk pays off tremendously.
4. Sinners-Francine Maisler
Many of Sinners’ roles are matched by veteran or newcomer superstars who each nail their parts. This cast is a little bit stronger than The Secret Agent because of how many other actors are able to shine outside of the main protagonists (look at the nominations for Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku as evidence of this, never mind the many other names I could pull out of a hat). Like Wagner Moura and The Secret Agent, you have the big risk of having Michael B. Jordan starring as both of the protagonists (a pair of identical twins), but both of these characters are throughout the entire film and so this decision is an even bigger gamble; naturally, we all know how well this worked. The casting for Sinners is kind of like a super team in sports: it isn’t as simple as getting all of these superstars together — they have to actually be able to gel together in order to work. Everyone connects beautifully in Sinners, and so it all works out.
3. One Battle After Another-Cassandra Kulukundis
I could point to the obvious big names in One Battle After Another, but these are a given; who doesn’t expect Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, or Sean Penn to cook? When you have a few daring choices like R&B singer Teyana Taylor in the mix (who was so well cast that she may walk away with an Academy Award very soon), things get more interesting. Then you could point to the selection of newcomers like Chase Infiniti, who still feels like a glaring omission from this year’s Oscars (she clearly has a bright future ahead of her). I then want to bring up all of the little characters who pop up throughout the film and are able to shine even for brief moments at a time; any wrong casting choice would have made a moment flounder, but this never happens. Considering the Pynchon-esque oddities that all of these characters possess, the casting feels a bit like a slam dunk often enough (like, yes, Teyana Taylor is Perfidia Beverly Hills; only Sean Penn could be Colonel Lockjaw). I feel like One Battle After Another would have been the film to beat if two other motion pictures were not considered for this very category.
2. Hamnet-Nina Gold
Allow me to explain. Sure, Hamnet does have the smallest cast of the five films considered here, but I think we have something remarkable here. I think the casting choices for Agnes and William Shakespeare are wise because neither Jessie Buckley or Paul Mescal are overtly theatrical to the point of becoming stereotypes of these famous figures (and yet they do feel like them back alive from the dead; at least they do to me). Each of the supporting actors hold their own and feel noteworthy as well. This becomes especially true when you look at how strong the child stars are, mainly Jacobi Jupe who is sensational as little Hamnet; poor child performances could have sullied this film — that is certainly not the case. Toss in the choice to have Jacobi’s older brother Noah Jupe (already an established actor) to represent Hamnet as an adult in the play Hamlet, and you have that jaw-dropping moment the film deserved: a grief-stricken Agnes reunited with her deceased son who has been gifted the ability to reach adulthood (albeit through art). The casting here feels appropriate and naturalistic.
1. Marty Supreme-Jennifer Venditti
Marty Supreme had to be first place. The main cast is excellent, from Timothée Chalamet as the title asshole, and Gwyneth Paltrow as a washed up star wanting to find fame again. We have rising star Odessa A’zion who keeps up with everyone around her. Well, I didn’t get very far before I had to dive into the main reason why Marty Supreme should win this award: the mind-boggling stunt casting that shockingly works perfectly. From business mogul and living vampire Kevin O’Leary, hip hop icon Tyler, the Creator, and filmmaker Abel Ferrara (who all have sizeable roles), to the countless amount of other risky cameo appearances (magician Penn Jillette, basketball stars like Tracy McGrady, George Gervin, and Kemba Walker, the viral Man With the Golden Voice Ted Williams, Mariann from Brooklyn who always calls into the Howard Stern Show, et cetera). Many of these roles are made up of non-actors whose professions usually dictate that they have no place being in motion pictures, and yet not one single person is out of place here. This parade of bold choices always pays off and adds to the hysteria of Marty Supreme. Jennifer Venditti’s casting is kind of miraculous here and feels like her own form of bumping the lamp. Even though the timing is purely coincidental, it almost feels like the Best Casting category was added simply so Marty Supreme could win here.
Who I Want To Win: I don’t have an issue with any of the nominees winning here, but I still want Marty Supreme’s Jennifer Venditti to win here simply due to the pay off of the audacity of the casting choices.
Who I Think Will Win: This is a tough one because this category is new and I don’t know how to read the Academy’s voting patterns for Best Casting yet. On one hand, I think they may follow my line of thinking and feel like the stunt casting of Marty Supreme cannot be ignored. On the other, I cannot help but wonder if this will be a category misused by voters to try and either predict what will win Best Picture or what film should win Best Picture and won’t. So, this could mean One Battle After Another wins both this and Best Picture, or Sinners wins here when One Battle After Another wins Best Picture, or vice versa with Sinners in the Best Picture spot. I think much can change before the ceremony takes place, and following the SAG Awards will help give us a clearer picture of what may happen, but for now I am going to stick with Marty Supreme.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.