ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY AND AWARD NEWS 

JULY 28, 2021

Secrets of a Casting Genius

Francine Maisler knows talent. She’s assembled big-screen ensembles for everyone from Aaron Sorkin and Adam McKay to Steve McQueen and Noah Baumbach, and has plied her talents on TV too—to the tune of three Emmy nominations, most recently for her work on Barry Jenkins’s The Underground Railroad. What’s her secret? Maybe, as Maisler tells David Canfield, it’s her willingness to speak truth to power: “I take chances when I argue with the director, because they’re the boss. I really care, and I’m willing to risk the relationship to let them know what I think.” 

Elsewhere in HWD, Richard Lawson reviews two new films: Disney’s latest adventure in adapting preexisting I.P., Jungle Cruise, and David Lowery’s arresting The Green Knight;Canfield surveys the fall film festival landscape; and Savannah Walsh gives an update on Bob Odenkirk, who collapsed on the set of Better Call Saul Tuesday.

Behind the Scenes

The go-to casting director for everyone from Adam McKay to Aaron Sorkin to Barry Jenkins looks back on her remarkable career.

R E A D  M O R E »

Jungle Snooze

The star wattage of Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson can’t save this doomed, prefab journey.

R E A D  M O R E »

Death Becomes Him

Writer-director David Lowery has crafted another transfixing rumination on matters of mortality.

R E A D  M O R E »

We Open in Venice

The Oscar campaigns for Jane Campion, Denzel Washington, and many more will get started at the Venice and New York film festivals.

R E A D  M O R E »

Get Well Soon

Bob Odenkirk “went down, and was immediately surrounded by crew members who called an ambulance,” sources told TMZ on Tuesday.

R E A D  M O R E »