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

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new Oscar category for stunt performers earlier this year. Unfortunately, none of the performers in the latest John Wick movie will qualify.

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 ...