Who won the first Oscar for Best Casting in 2026?

Cassandra Kulukundis won the first Oscar for Best Casting in 2026. She received the inaugural Academy Award for Achievement in Casting for assembling the cast of One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

The casting prize was introduced at the 98th Academy Awards for films released in 2025. It was the first new competitive Oscar category since Best Animated Feature was added in 2001. The award formally recognizes casting directors, whose work had previously been celebrated through other industry honors but not with a dedicated competitive Oscar.

Kulukundis won against four other nominees: Nina Gold for Hamnet, Jennifer Venditti for Marty Supreme, Gabriel Domingues for The Secret Agent, and Francine Maisler for Sinners. A likely source of confusion is that Maisler was nominated for Sinners, while Kulukundis won for One Battle After Another. The category is officially titled Achievement in Casting, although “Best Casting” is widely used.