{"id":11670,"date":"2026-02-02T17:19:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/?p=11670"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:11:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T10:11:06","slug":"casting-director-cassandra-kulukundis-one-battle-after-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/the-industry\/casting-director-cassandra-kulukundis-one-battle-after-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis on &#8216;One Battle After Another&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cassandra Kulukundis tells us about her long search for the cast of \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019 and what she wants to see in auditions.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Casting director Cassandra Kulukundis has been a trusted collaborator of Paul Thomas Anderson for over two decades. Their collaboration began with 1999\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnolia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and has continued through to his latest feature, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One Battle After Another<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Across her career, her taste and eye have helped shape a wide range of films, from Spike Jonze\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and David Mamet\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spartan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to Brady Corbet\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vox Lux<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Brutalist<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So far, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One Battle After Another<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has won six Academy Awards, six <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/bafta-film-awards-2026-winners-list\/\">BAFTAs<\/a> and four <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/the-winners-of-the-golden-globes-2026\/\">Golden Globes<\/a>, picking up the best film category at each ceremony. Cassandra&#8217;s craft putting together the cast for the film saw her win the inaugural Best Casting award at the Oscars, which she dedicated to &#8220;all the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here, who didn&#8217;t even get a chance to get their name on the movie.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before becoming the first Achievement in Casting Oscar winner, we spoke to Cassandra about her long casting process for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One Battle After Another<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, finding Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor, and her top audition tips for actors.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Cassandra\u2019s Insights:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Actors should fully prepare for auditions but stay flexible in the room, ready to take direction and explore different choices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For self-tapes, actors must convincingly perform even without a scene partner and use the opportunity to showcase their range through experimentation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building genuine, natural interactions with people on set can enhance performance, so actors should be open to adapting within authentic environments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Hi, Cassandra! When did \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019 first come your way?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I first heard about it after our work on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phantom Thread<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, when Paul [Thomas Anderson] told me what I should be keeping an eye out for for the next one. We almost moved forward on it and then stopped. Then we almost went again and stopped. But I started actively reading people in 2017 and continued to do so in my spare time until we were finally up and going in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What did those early searches look like?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The original script had a lot more fighting in it, so I was going to martial arts studios and watching tournaments. I was harassing everyone I met about mixed heritage girls who could kickbox. I opened it up to gymnastics and dance as well, which is how Chase [Infiniti] came to me. I wanted to get a great actor, so it didn\u2019t matter to me if they could fight. I wanted to get them early so we could train them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How did those early contenders evolve over time?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I had four or five real contenders back then. But they semi-aged out. One decided she wasn\u2019t interested anymore. A couple of them were too young \u2013 12 or 13 at the time. But I checked on them again when they were more the right age. It was a fascinating process. I turned over every single stone that fit the DNA profile for this character.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>When was the moment you knew Chase Infiniti was &#8216;Willa&#8217;?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Chase, she was still in college when I first saw one of her tapes, so she was earmarked. But I didn\u2019t want to audition anyone until I knew the movie was actually going. After <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Licorice Pizza<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Paul said we\u2019d be working on it next. By that time, Chase had graduated and got a job (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Presumed Innocent<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The moment I saw her move, I was like, \u201cI can work with this.\u201d Then she sent a tape, and I was like, \u201cThis is it.\u201d I was ready to take her all the way to the end. Then we threw her in opposite Leo\u2026 and she kept rolling with the punches, and that\u2019s what Willa has to also do in the film.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Teyana Taylor is known for being a musician, but in the last few years, we\u2019ve seen her take on some acting roles, including \u2018A Thousand and One\u2019. How did she come into the process?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anyone who saw Teyana in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Thousand and One<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> knew she was a serious player and ready to start an acting career. In that role, you could tell she was ready to commit. For the role of \u2018Perfidia\u2019, I read hundreds of people. So many that I\u2019m afraid of how many might come out of the woodwork and say that they read! And Teyana was one who definitely read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teyana is a force. After she read, we kept finding ourselves wanting other people to read like<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">her. That says everything right there.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>And once she was on set?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Teyana, you get out of her way. Take after take, she gave so much material. We were like, \u201cHow are we going to choose?\u201d She\u2019s also one of the most entertaining, fun human beings. With her, there is never a bad day on set. There was nothing we could throw at her that she couldn\u2019t handle.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>This film makes strong use of real community members in supporting roles. How do you find those people?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The day players create the world. We want the towns we shoot in involved with us. I travel with the production as much as I can. I get in with the community, meet almost everybody, and then figure out who can handle saying some lines and who can handle not just looking at the camera. I get inquiries about the jail nurse all the time, because she is so good in the movie. But she\u2019s literally a real jail nurse. Everyone you see on screen has been seriously vetted to make the film feel real.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What was the most challenging role to cast?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Tim Smith\u2019 took a lot of energy to cast. There were specific boxes Paul wanted to check off for him. I read so many types of people, from actors with military backgrounds, to real military people, to actors whose parents are in the military.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How did John Hoogenakker come into the picture?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was a total out-of-the-box idea. Not at all what I was told to look for. But when he read, his first take, I was like, \u201cI love you so much. Thank you. You have no idea!\u201d<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was a hard one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Avanti\u2019 isn\u2019t a big role on the page, but it\u2019s a role that goes through a lot in the brief time on screen.<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Avanti\u2019 was also challenging because he had to be different things. There is that switch the character makes from, \u201cI\u2019m going to take this girl and let her get murdered,\u201d to, \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Eric Schweig read, there was something scary about him, but also so much soul in him. I hadn\u2019t seen Eric in a while, and bringing him in was just a random idea I had. It was hard to track him down, though. He was literally somewhere North of Nova Scotia in a place with no Wifi, and I was trying to read with him with 10 seconds of availability!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Are you and Paul usually in sync when it comes to making casting choices?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If I really feel like an actor is the one, he agrees with me. I never think someone is \u2018good enough\u2019 for a role. I\u2019m not a \u2018good enough\u2019 person, and neither is Paul. Even after eight months of looking for a role, we\u2019re always like, \u201cWe can do better.\u201d It\u2019s not about judging the actor. It\u2019s about the character. We\u2019re making a quilt, and each patch informs the next, which is also why I like to cast in a certain order. I think it\u2019s hard to throw a bunch of offers out to many different roles when you don\u2019t know who\u2019s going to play what.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What was the order on this film?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I started, there was nobody. Then \u2018Bob\u2019 (Leonardo DiCaprio) came, then we were doing the \u2018Willa\u2019 search, then \u2018Lockjaw\u2019 (Sean Penn) was set. And during the \u2018Willa\u2019 search, we started getting close to getting \u2018Perfidia\u2019 (Teyana Taylor). Then I knew who Willa\u2019s parents were. It was like that all the way down.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How do you build your database of actors?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am constantly collecting people. I don\u2019t even mean to. When I\u2019m not working actively in Los Angeles, I\u2019m in New York and going to the theatre, off-Broadway, Broadway, all the shows. I watch everything. I see every single movie in the theatre. So even if someone is playing the waiter, and the movie could be terrible, if that waiter is really good, I will look them up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Even if the only line that waiter has is, \u2018Would you like some water?&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those one or two-line roles can be the hardest to cast because it\u2019s very hard to just jump into a scene. It\u2019s like Double Dutch \u2013 you\u2019ve got to jump in and start doing tight jump ropes. But jumping in is the hard part.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What kind of advice can you give to actors when they come in to audition for you?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find your own thing and don\u2019t force anything. No one\u2019s going to be Sean Penn, so don\u2019t try to be Sean Penn. Be your own thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do all your homework, whatever that process is. Then, once you walk in the room, throw it away. You\u2019ve done that work, now listen to what I say, how I feed you the line, and give it back. No matter what, I\u2019m going to take you in a different direction just to see your range and what else you can do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t be too married to doing it only one way. But at the same time, you definitely have choices.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Can you share a time when an actor surprised you in their approach to a self-tape?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This one actress sent me a tape one time. It took me maybe seven or eight lines to realise she wasn\u2019t reading with anybody. She was that good that she made those lines sound like somebody else was responding. So be ready to work with nobody. Work with the wall. If you do have somebody to work with, try some stuff. Experiment. Because then I get to know you better. It\u2019s not like there\u2019s a trap door underneath you, and if you did it wrong, it opens!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prepare thoroughly, but be ready to throw your work away and follow the casting director\u2019s direction in the moment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use self-tapes to showcase your range by experimenting and acting as if you have a scene partner, even when you don\u2019t.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t try to imitate others. Find your own unique approach and bring authenticity to every audition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Embrace opportunities to work with real people on set to add natural texture and depth to your performance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay patient and persistent. Casting is a process of finding the exact fit, and every role informs the next.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you, Cassandra, for sharing your experience on \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019 with us!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a look at our website for <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/?tag=interview\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more interviews<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/?tag=casting+directors\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">advice from casting directors<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cassandra Kulukundis tells us about her long search for the cast of \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019 and what she wants to see in auditions. Casting director Cassandra Kulukundis has been a trusted collaborator of Paul Thomas Anderson for over two decades. Their collaboration began with 1999\u2019s Magnolia and has continued through to his latest feature, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":12486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[36,64,49,95],"class_list":["post-11670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-industry","tag-awards","tag-casting-directors","tag-film","tag-interview"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cassandra Kulukundis on &#039;One Battle After Another&#039; | Spotlight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Casting director Cassandra Kulukundis on casting \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019 and audition and self-tape advice.\" \/>\n<meta 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