Casting director David Rubin has been elected the new President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. It's a prestigious position but not without dozens upon dozens of high-profile headaches. Nobody is ever pleased with the Oscars which we've always taken as a sign of their continued relevance; people wouldn't constantly be complaining about the institution if they didn't care about it!
This will mark the first time a Casting Director has ever served as AMPAS president. The news of Rubin's election came in the same 24 hours that BAFTA announced that they would be adding a Casting category to their awards which begs the following oft asked question... Is there ever going to be an Oscar category for Achievement in Casting?
We've asked this before because it remains the most crucial component of filmmaking that has no competitive category. The only other department as high profile that doesn't have an Oscar is surely stunts.
One of the chief arguments we've heard against a casting Oscar is that the work is largely invisible. We see the actors onscreen, but we don't see the auditions... we don't know the complicated decisions that went in to that exact cast mix. We aren't privvy to the meetings for actors who are "offer only" to suss out what convinced the filmmakers to hire them. And we don't know whose idea any particular casting decision was since a number of different people are involved in the process. It's a complicated art but, you know, so is editing, which is completely invisible to anyone outside the editing room but for what we see on screen. There's been an Oscar for film editing for the past 84 years. Even when they make eyebrow raising decisions like last year's laughable statue to the editing nightmare Bohemian Rhapsody, it doesn't negate the fact that that Oscar should exist.
The Oscars are never going to be perfect. Even if they did achieve that mythical state, nobody would agree that they had, as it's all subjective. Neverthless they should strive to be their perfect selves and so there ought to be an Oscar for casting directors. It's too crucial a contribution to each and every narrative feature to be so lacking in respect from the most important Hollywood institution.
David Rubin's genius is casting was amply evident in "The English Patient"
If there had already been an Oscar for casting Rubin would surely have won it by now. His films include Best Picture winners like The English Patient, Best picture nominees like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Gravity, hit franchise-starters like Men in Black and The Addams Family, and other extremely well-cast gems like The Talented Mr. Ripley, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.
[Here's a complete list of the Academy's new and/or continuing Board of Governors.]