After years of campaigning in the filmmaking community, it looks like stunt workers may finally be getting recognition on the Oscars stage — well, maybe.
Several heads of The Academy sat down with Empire for a rare interview recently, where they were asked about the potential of a stunts Oscar. They confirmed that there indeed have been talks about the subject, especially after the confirmation of a new Best Casting Oscar category coming in 2026, in addition to providing some vague insight into The Academy’s processes.
“We’re talking to members of the stunt community who are Academy members about the possibility of that,” Bill Kramer, Academy CEO, said in the interview. “We added a new award that will launch in two years for Casting Directors, so we’re always open to those discussions.”
Elaborating further, Academy President Janet Yang called the Academy “a living, breathing organism,” and if there’s “really strong support” for a change from the organization’s members, they’ll listen.
“That’s what happened with Casting. We’ve created new branches over the decades,” Yang added. “So it does evolve, and it evolves with the changing industry.”
The campaign for a Best Stunts category has been a long one and, as an extensive IGN report broke down earlier this year, it’s a hard but not impossible feat to get a new category added — just look at, again, the upcoming Best Casting category. As we reported at the time, the process would, in extremely condensed terms, essentially involve a push and vote from The Academy’s various committees before getting approved by The Academy Board of Governors.
Hope for a stunts Oscar ramped up at the most recent Academy Awards ceremony, which included a tribute to the stunt community from The Fall Guy stars Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling. It did not, however, end with an announcement of an official stunts category, as some expected it to. Previously, Gosling called The Fall Guy “just a giant campaign to get stunts an Oscar.”
And while it’ll still probably be awhile until that goal has reached, the comments in the Empire profile today are a significant confirmation from the Academy heads that it’s at least being considered.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
