After many years of impassioned calls for an Oscar recognizing the art of the stunt, the film academy has decided to give it an official award. As the AP reports, an achievement in stunt design prize will be added starting with the 100th Academy Awards, which will recognize films released in 2027, the academy said this week. "We are proud to honor the innovative work of these technical and creative artists," Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint statement. The film academy's production and technology branch has more than 100 stunt performers among its ranks.
David Leitch, who directed The Fall Guy, which was itself an ode to stunt performers, helped lead the charge for the new prize. Leitch began his career as a stuntman for stars like Brad Pitt before transitioning to making stunt-heavy films like John Wick. He and stunt coordinator and designer Chris O'Hara of Stunts Unlimited made presentations to the academy advocating for the new award. "O'Hara and I have spent years working to bring this moment to life, standing on the shoulders of the stunt professionals who've fought tirelessly for recognition over the decades. We are incredibly grateful," Leitch said in a statement.
"Back in the day, stunt guys were the cowboys," O'Hara told the AP in 2024. "Now we are creative. We create amazing things, just like a production designer does or a costume designer does." The Oscars paid tribute to the stunt community with a video montage at the 2024 ceremony, looking back at over 100 years of Hollywood stunts from Charlie Chaplin all the way to Mission: Impossible and The Matrix.
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Other awards shows were ahead of the curve: The Emmys honors stunt coordination and stunt performance, while the SAG Awards recognize stunt ensembles in television and film. Says Chad Stahelski, who co-directed John Wick and did stunts for Keanu Reeves, "Stunts is such a collaborative and complicated department, how are we going to determine who this goes to? We've spent 100 years getting the award, let's just make sure it goes to the right people." (More Oscars stories.)
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