Cassandra Kulukundis on How a Lifetime of Casting for Paul Thomas Anderson Led to 'One Battle After Another'

"In 1996, casting director Cassandra Kulukundis began her career as an intern on writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's debut feature, "Hard Eight." Now, 30 years later, she's nominated for the first ever Academy Award for Best Casting for her work on Anderson's latest film, the epic action-comedy-thriller-family drama " One Battle After Another." It's the culmination of a collaboration that has yielded some of the most memorable and compelling ensembles in American cinema, from "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" to "There Will Be Blood" and "Phantom Thread.""

"Kulukundis has worked on all of Anderson's movies since that first job on "Hard Eight," and together the two artists have developed a unique way of combining popular movie stars, underrated but reliable character actors, and non-professionals who bring an added sense of authenticity to the proceedings. "One Battle After Another" is the ultimate example of their approach, a movie that features A-list actors giving the best performances of their careers (Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn), up-and-coming talent holding their own alongside the veterans (Chase Infiniti), and people who have never acted before anchoring the film in reality (James Raterman as the chilling Colonel Danvers)."

"The vast scale of "One Battle After Another" combined with Anderson's meticulous attention to detail meant that Kulukundis had to cast each role with an actor vivid enough to give the impression of a character with a life outside of the narrative - something she pulled off flawlessly, from the revolutionaries who set the plot in motion and their next generation to the immigrants under Benicio del Toro's protection and the ICE agents pursuing them."

Cassandra Kulukundis began as an intern on Paul Thomas Anderson's 1996 debut, Hard Eight, and has worked on all of his films since. She received a nomination for the first-ever Academy Award for Best Casting for One Battle After Another, capping a three-decade collaboration. The partnership produced standout ensembles in Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread. Kulukundis and Anderson mix A-list stars, dependable character actors, and non-professionals to heighten authenticity. One Battle After Another pairs career-best performances from veterans with rising talent and non-actors, and its scale demanded actors who feel lived-in beyond the script.

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