'Ballerina' Deserves an Oscar Nod for Stunts—But It’ll Never Get One

If anyone knows how to take a fall, it’s Cara Marie Chooljian. As a stunt performer in everything from Everything Everywhere All at Once to this Friday’s Ballerina, she’s used to taking blows and getting back up. There’s just one blow she wishes she didn’t have to take, at least not right now—that she won’t win an Oscar. To be clear, it’s not that she can’t win an Oscar or that she doesn’t have the skill. It’s that until April of this year there just wasn’t a category for stunt performers. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new trophy specifically for stunt design this spring, but no movie will be eligible for the award until 2027—long after Ballerina is out of theaters. “Kill me,” Chooljian jokes when I ask about the Academy’s announcement and the timing of her latest movie. “I was like, why aren’t we pushing it” back? Stunt work has been a part of filmmaking since there have been movies. In an industry where actors are literally worth millions of dollars, ... Read full article.