One of the most exciting things about this upcoming Academy Awards is the introduction to the newest category: Best Casting. This will be the first new category implemented by the organization since 2001, and there are a lot of questions swirling around. Which films will have a shot at the inaugural trophy? Will some popular films make the shortlist when they are announced later this month? For legendary casting directors Nina Gold and Doug Aibel, they might have the same questions. Their work on Jay Kelly is one of the many reasons why Noah Baumbach’s character study is as successful as it is.
We began our talk reflecting on what it means for them to finally be in competition for an Academy Award. If you put their resumes together, you would find enormous accomplishments. Aibel cast Materialists, The Phoenecian Scheme, and Long Bright River this year alone, while Gold worked on Ballad of a Small Player, Too Much, and Hamnet in 2025.
For Jay Kelly, Gold and Aibel had to populate entire worlds of the entertainment industry and Jay Kelly’s devoted fandom across multiple countries. The duo explains that they made pocket ensembles to represent the various groups that follow Jay and his crew around. One of the most satisfying and entertaining sections of Baumbach’s film is when the entertainment crew boards a train from France to Italy, and Jay finds himself at the center of an adoring stew of people. Some are locals, some are tourists. Most are European but some Americans make themselves known.
There are many different ways to cast a project, and Gold and Aibel admit that it depends on the story, timing, and circumstance. There is no “standard” way of casting a film, and that’s why Gold and Aibel are the best in the business. Their work on Jay Kelly reflects just how many factors come into play when populating the screen with characters big and small. They make it look effortless–just like Jay Kelly’s smile.
Jay Kelly is in select theaters now, and it debuts exclusively on Netflix on December 5.
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