She Started as an Unpaid Intern on Hard Eight in 1996. Thirty Years Later She Is Nominated for the First Oscar in the Category.

Cassandra Kulukundis started as an unpaid intern on Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight in 1996. Thirty years and ten films later, she is nominated for the first-ever Best Casting Oscar for One Battle After Another.

In between: There Will Be Blood. Phantom Thread. Licorice Pizza. Six of her films have been nominated for Best Picture. She found Chase Infiniti after a six-year search, spotting her in a K-pop dance group with no acting credits.

That is casting. Not filling roles. Finding people who do not exist on any list yet.