The Oscars Paid Tribute To Stunt Performers, Still Refuse To Give Stunt Performers Oscars
During the 96th Academy Awards, we were treated to a brief video honoring the work of stunt performers and the integral part they play in the film industry. Then, things quickly moved on.
Introduced by "The Fall Guy" stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, the video was full of effusive praise for stunt performers and how fundamental they've been to the success of the very industry the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors with their yearly ceremony. While some may have been expecting the clip to lead to an official stunt category announcement, it, er, didn't.
Well-made though this visual tribute was, the whole thing felt a little rich considering the Academy is still refusing to give stunt performers their own award category. Worse still, it comes in the wake of news that we'll soon be seeing a new casting category, set to be introduced at the 2026 ceremony and marking the first time since 2002 that a new category has been added to The Oscars.
As such, this half-hearted tribute to stunt performers felt very much like some sort of consolation prize. During his introduction, Gosling said, "To the stunt coordinators and performers that help make movies magic, we salute you." But this felt much more like a perfunctory acknowledgement than a salute, and seems like a real missed opportunity.
A stunt category seems like a no-brainer
The addition of a stunt category to The Oscars has been an ongoing discussion for some time, with "The Fall Guy" director David Leitch being particularly vocal about the awards snubbing stunt teams. In fact, both he and his "John Wick" co-director Chad Stahelski have been lobbying for the creation of a stunt category, with Stahelski revealing last year that he'd been in discussions with the Academy on the topic. The "John Wick: Chapter 4" director even hinted at some sort of breakthrough when he told ComicBookMovie.com that, "For the first time, we've made real movement forward to making this happen."
Such positive developments surely had some folks thinking the stunt category would finally be unveiled at the 96th Academy Awards. Alas, all we got was this well-made but frankly disappointing video, which seemed to spell out exactly why stunt performers have earned the right to be recognized without actually granting it to them.
Meanwhile, the Best Achievement in Casting is set to become the first new category introduced since Best Animated Feature in 2002. That's all well and good, but it does seem like an odd choice for the Academy to make. Not only have stunt performers long lobbied to be recognized, ratings for the Oscars have been down for some time, and if any new category is going to help in that regard, surely it's one focused on action. Sure, we'd love to see a Best Ensemble award, and we're glad casting directors will finally get their due. But if you can be recognized for finding the right actor for a role, surely the guys flinging themselves down staircases multiple times for our enjoyment can get a nod. Sadly, the Academy still seems reticent to accept that obvious truth in 2024.