For years now, pressure has been building for the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Scientists to include a category at the Oscars celebrating stunt work. After all, it’s a major cinematic discipline, responsible for some of the most jaw-dropping feats to grace the big screen – but, for the last century-or-so, has gone unrecognised at Hollywood’s biggest awards show. Most recently, the release of stunt-centric summer blockbuster The Fall Guy saw its cast and crew repeatedly go to bat for including a stunt category at the Oscars – and the conversation hasn’t gone unnoticed.
At Cannes, Empire sat down with the heads of the Academy, who are in the process of reshaping the institution and bringing the industry’s starriest night up to standard. And, as part of that, they have indeed started making enquiries about a Stunts category. “We’re talking to members of the stunt community who are Academy members about the possibility of that,” Bill Kramer, Academy CEO, tells Empire. “We added a new award that will launch in two years for Casting Directors,” he notes, “so we’re always open to those discussions.”
Behind the scenes, the DNA of the Academy continues to change, allowing for possible future changes. “The Academy is like a living, breathing organism,” explains Academy President Janet Yang. “We listen to our members, and if there’s really strong support and there’s whole mechanisms for how to advance the cause, and they’re interested… That’s what happened with Casting. We’ve created new branches over the decades. So it does evolve, and it evolves with the changing industry.” It’s early days, then – but the Stunt category wheels may be starting to turn. Stay tuned to see if they eventually turn into a full-on pedal-to-the-metal barrel roll.
Read Empire’s full conversation with the heads of the Academy in the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice issue – on sale now.