Casting Non-Actors and Athletes in Films Like ‘F1,’ ‘The Smashing Machine’ and ‘Marty Supreme’

For the first time in the ceremony’s 98-year history, casting directors will be getting their close-up at the Academy Awards.

“Our work is just as important as any other head of department, and I’m so thrilled that there’s now a conversation about what casting actually is,” says Lucy Bevan, whose long list of credits includes the recent Brad Pitt-led F1: The Movie blockbuster.

Casting has always been an integral part of filmmaking. However, the intricate process of putting together an ensemble to fit a director’s creative vision has operated in a kind of black box, shielded from public input or knowledge. Yet like any art form, casting is far from an exact science and involves a little bit of alchemy.

“We’re always thinking about what an actor could play,” Bevan explains. “You may come and audition for a role that you’re not right for, but we’ll think about you for something else. That happens all the time.”

The job requires a surprisingly diverse skill set. “I always say I’m a detective, a director, a social worker, a psychologist, a sociologist and an anthropologist,” says Jennifer Venditti, who, on top of casting Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugoniareteamed with the Safdies for their respective Oscar contenders — Benny’s The Smashing Machine and Josh’s Marty Supreme.

The uptick in sports films this year, which saw athletes and other non-actors go toe-to-toe with established thespians, further underscores the talents of casting directors. As is the case with representing any real-life subject, casting teams have to become de facto experts in a particular sport very quickly. For Venditti, that entails talking to numerous consultants and looking at as many reference materials — usually old photos, news clippings and documentaries — from that bygone era as possible.

To lend further credibility and authenticity to their films, creative teams often enlist real-life professionals from a sport to fill out the supporting and background cast. Given that the high-octane action sequences in F1 were adapted from real races, numerous drivers, including producer Lewis Hamilton, and their personnel appear as themselves. Regardless of their level of experience, “not one actor ever fluffed a line,” Bevan recalls. “They were all completely ready when they had their moment.”

For The Smashing MachineVenditti worked with her stunt team to find professionals who had the requisite physicality and who could fight “in a way that they’re not going to hurt anyone”— all while acting as naturally as possible, she says. Her research led her to cast Ryan Bader as Mark Kerr’s (Dwayne Johnson) best friend and rival, Mark Coleman; Bas Rutten as himself; and Oleksandr Usyk as Igor Vovchanchyn.

Athletes are generally happy to appear in films that expose their sport to a wider audience, Venditti notes. In the case of Smashing Machine“These guys gave up so much — their health, their time — and they weren’t celebrated. So I think a lot of people within that world were so excited about this project to honor these guys who came before them.”

In Marty SupremeVenditti faced an even taller order, filling the film’s 150-something other roles. Blending Hollywood stars with first-time actors, she deployed street scouts across New York City’s five boroughs to find unforgettable faces that could believably inhabit the 1950s. Her sweet spot, as both a casting director and filmmaker herself, has always been blurring the line between fiction and nonfiction to find “a raw texture of humanity” in each of her productions.

“The reason why I love this job is because I am obsessed with humanity. With each project, I get to learn more about a world and about people that maybe I wouldn’t meet in my daily life,” says Venditti. “It expands my compassion and empathy.”

This story first appeared in a November stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.