Sarah Halley Finn

Sarah Halley Finn
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Yale University (BA)
Occupations	Casting director Producer
Years active	1997–present

Sarah Halley Finn is an American casting director and producer. Finn has cast over 100 feature films and is best known for casting the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. She also cast and co-produced ^[1] Oscar winning Best Picture Everything Everywhere All at Once , the most awarded film in movie history. ^[2] It won three out of four acting categories at the 95th Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress – a feat only achieved twice before, and not since 1976. Other works include Oscar-winning films Black Panther ; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ; and Crash ; all of which earned Finn the Casting Society of America’s highest honor, the Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. ^{[3] [4] [5]} Those films also won the prestigious SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2023 Finn was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Casting and won the Artios Zeitgeist award for her work on Everything Everywhere All At Once. ^[6] In 2022, she received two Primetime Emmy nominations for her work casting WandaVision and The Mandalorian . ^[7]

Career

Finn's collaboration with Marvel Studios includes 36 films and 16 shows to date. ^[8] In 2006, she was hired to cast the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, Iron Man , and cast Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role. ^[9] President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, said "For all of our success in all of the films, it comes down to characters... The reason you care about those characters is because of the actors who portray them, and the reason those actors portray them is because at some point, Sarah Finn brought them to our attention.” ^[10] Jac Schaeffer, who Finn collaborated with on Emmy nominated WandaVision , said, "[Sarah] has such incredible instincts... [She] is really great at internalizing the writer's intention and then finding a new flavor for that: something that's unexpected for the audience and will feel special or unique." ^[8] Finn fought for Chris Pratt to land the role of Peter Quill, ^[11] pushed for Chris Hemsworth as Thor after his initial audition was rejected by higher-ups, ^[10] and, after observing his powerful and king-like presence during a prior audition for Drax the Destroyer, knew to highlight Chadwick Boseman for the role of T'Challa in Black Panther . ^[12]

Finn is also accustomed to finding completely unknown actors to fill roles in the MCU. After a lengthy, nationwide search and several rounds of auditions to find a Pakistani-Muslim teenager to play Ms. Marvel, then high school senior Iman Vellani won the role. ^[8] When asked about her experience being cast Vellani said, "[Finn] looked out for me in a way that I didn't think was normal for most casting directors... She would literally call me and run lines with me and give me notes [before auditions]... Even after I got the part, I was dealing with so much imposter syndrome, and her advice is what grounded me and allowed me to trust my instincts.” ^[8] Similarly, Dominique Thorne (MCU's Ironheart) described Finn as an "advocate of mine, supporting me and what I was doing." ^[13]

Beyond Marvel, Finn cast and is consulting producer on the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian , created by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. ^[8] She also cast The Book of Boba Fett and is prepping other projects with LucasFilm for Disney+ including Ahsoka and more. ^[14]

Other upcoming projects include AGBO films Extraction 2 and The Electric State . ^[14] Finn also cast and produced the upcoming independent film One True Loves , ^[15] based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Recently released projects include Everything, Everywhere All at Once from The Daniels – which earned Finn a BAFTA nomination ^[6] – The Gray Man from the Russo brothers, and the Lionsgate/Showtime series The First Lady , directed by Susanne Bier and for which Finn was also a co-producer. ^[14]

Some of Finn's past credits include: Jon Favreau's comedy, Chef ; Oliver Stone's drama, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps ; Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths and Shane Black’s The Nice Guys ; sports films Miracle , Coach Carter , She's the Man , and Blue Crush ; animated films The Little Prince , The Jungle Book (2016) , and The Lion King (2019) ; and action films such as Fast & Furious and Kick-Ass . ^[14]

A graduate of theater and history at Yale University ^{[8] [16]} and member of AMPAS (Executive Committee, Casting Branch), ^[17] Sarah has served on the Executive Board of Women in Film (WIF) and is on the Board of Advisors for the Master Class educational series. ^{[16] [18]} She is also a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre. ^[19]

Awards and nominations

Select awards and nominations

Awards and nominations Award Wins Nominations BAFTA Film Awards 0 1 Emmy Awards 0 2 CSA Artios Awards 6 19 HCA Awards 1 1
Totals [a]
Wins	7
Nominations	23
Note Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.

Finn garnered a 2023 BAFTA nomination for Best Casting in recognition of her work on Everything Everywhere All at Once . In 2021, Finn was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie ( WandaVision ) and Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series ( The Mandalorian ). ^{[20] [21]} She has also been nominated numerous times by the Casting Society of America, winning for The Lion King , Crash , Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri , Black Panther , Spider-Man: No Way Home , and Everything Everywhere All At Once . ^{[22] [23]}

Since the addition of The Zeitgeist category at the Artios Awards in 2019, Finn has won 3 out of 4 times. ^[24]

Other awards include the Hollywood Critics Association Award for Best Casting (Everything Everywhere All At Once), and the Action Icon Special Achievement Award. ^[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Casting director	Producer	Notes
1998	Paulie	Yes	No
1999	Varsity Blues	Yes	No
1999	200 Cigarettes	Yes	No
1999	Double Jeopardy	Yes	No
2000	Mission: Impossible II	Yes	No
2001	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider	Yes	No
2001	Life as a House	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama
2001	Crazy/Beautiful	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama
2002	The Scorpion King	Yes	No
2002	Blue Crush	Yes	No
2002	You Stupid Man	Yes	No
2003	Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines	Yes	No
2003	S.W.A.T.	Yes	No
2004	Miracle	Yes	No
2004	Walking Tall	Yes	No
2004	A Cinderella Story	Yes	No
2004	Crash	Yes	Co-producer	Won – Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama; Won – Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2005	Coach Carter	Yes	No
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School	Yes	Co-producer	Nominated – Artios Award for Best Independent Feature Film Casting
2005	Ice Princess	Yes	No
2005	Dreamer	Yes	No
2006	She's the Man	Yes	No
2006	The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift	Yes	No
2006	The Guardian	Yes	No
2006	Home of the Brave	Yes	No
2007	In the Valley of Elah	Yes	No
2008	Quid Pro Quo	Yes	Co-producer
2008	Vantage Point	Yes	No
2008	Never Back Down	Yes	No
2008	Iron Man	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Studio Feature - Drama
2008	W.	Yes	No
2009	Hotel for Dogs	Yes	No
2009	Race to Witch Mountain	Yes	No
2009	Fast & Furious	Yes	No
2009	Couples Retreat	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature - Comedy
2010	Kick-Ass	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Feature - Studio or Independent Comedy
2010	Iron Man 2	Yes	No
2010	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Yes	No
2010	Tron: Legacy	Yes	No
2011	Thor	Yes	No
2011	Captain America: The First Avenger	Yes	No
2011	Cowboys & Aliens	Yes	No
2012	Safe House	Yes	No
2012	The Avengers	Yes	No
2012	Seven Psychopaths	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Studio or Independent Feature - Comedy
2013	Iron Man 3	Yes	No
2013	Thor: The Dark World	Yes	No
2014	Chef	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Studio or Independent Feature - Comedy
2014	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	Yes	No
2014	Godzilla	Yes	No
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature - Comedy
2014	As Above, So Below	Yes	No
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Yes	No
2015	The Little Prince	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Animation Feature
2015	Ant-Man	Yes	No
2016	The Jungle Book	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Animation Feature
2016	Captain America: Civil War	Yes	No
2016	The Nice Guys	Yes	No
2016	Doctor Strange	Yes	No
2017	Kong: Skull Island	Yes	No
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature - Comedy
2017	Spider-Man: Homecoming	Yes	No
2017	Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Yes	No	Won – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Studio or Independent Feature - Drama; Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Casting
2017	Thor: Ragnarok	Yes	No
2018	Black Panther	Yes	No	Won – Artios Zeitgeist Award
2018	Pacific Rim: Uprising	Yes	No
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Yes	No
2018	Ant-Man and the Wasp	Yes	No
2018	Skyscraper	Yes	No
2018	The Predator	Yes	No
2019	Captain Marvel	Yes	No
2019	Avengers: Endgame	Yes	No
2019	Pokémon: Detective Pikachu	Yes	No
2019	Godzilla: King of the Monsters	Yes	No
2019	Spider-Man: Far From Home	Yes	No
2019	The Lion King	Yes	No	Won – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Animation Feature
2019	Dora and the Lost City of Gold	Yes	No
2019	Mosul	Yes	No
2021	Godzilla vs. Kong	Yes	No
2021	Black Widow	Yes	No
2021	Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature - Comedy
2021	Eternals	Yes	No
2021	Spider-Man: No Way Home	Yes	No	Won – Artios Zeitgeist Award
2022	Everything Everywhere All at Once	Yes	Co-producer	Won – Artios Zeitgeist Award; Won – Hollywood Critics Association for Best Casting Director; Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Casting; Nominated – Black Reel Award for Outstanding Ensemble
2022	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	Yes	No
2022	Thor: Love and Thunder	Yes	No
2022	The Gray Man	Yes	No
2022	Black Panther: Wakanda Forever	Yes	No	Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature - Drama
2023	One True Loves	Yes	Yes
2023	Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	Yes	No
2023	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	Yes	No
2023	The Marvels	Yes	No
2024	Deadpool & Wolverine	Yes	No
2025	Captain America: Brave New World	Yes	No
2025	Thunderbolts*	Yes	No
2025	The Fantastic Four: First Steps	Yes	No
TBA	The Bluff	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Casting director	Producer	No. of episodes	Notes
2015	Agent Carter	Yes	No	8 episodes
2018	Deadly Class	Yes	No	1 episode
2019 – 2020	Emergence	Yes	No	9 episodes
2013 – 2020	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Yes	No	100 episodes
2021	WandaVision	Yes	Consulting producer	9 episodes	Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie; Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Limited Series
2021	The Falcon and the Winter Soldier	Yes	Consulting producer	6 episodes
2021	Hawkeye	Yes	Consulting producer	6 episodes
2021	What If...?	Yes	Consulting producer	8 episodes (as CD), 9 episodes (as consulting producer)
2021 – 2022	The Book of Boba Fett	Yes	Consulting producer	7 episodes
2022	Moon Knight	Yes	Consulting producer	6 episodes (as CD), 3 episodes (as consulting producer)
2019 – 2022	The Mandalorian	Yes	Consulting producer	16 episodes	Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series; Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Pilot and First Season - Drama; Nominated – Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Series - Drama
2022	The First Lady	Yes	Consulting producer	5 episodes
2022	Ms. Marvel	Yes	No	6 episodes
2022	She-Hulk: Attorney at Law	Yes	No	9 episodes
2022	Werewolf by Night	Yes	Consulting producer	TV special
2022	The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special	Yes	Consulting producer	TV special
2023	Secret Invasion	Yes	No	6 episodes
2021 – 2023	Loki	Yes	Consulting producer	12 episodes (as CD), 12 episodes (as consulting producer)
2024	Echo	Yes	No	5 episodes
2024	Agatha All Along	Yes	No	9 episodes
2025	Ironheart	Yes	No	6 episodes

References

1. "Everything Everywhere All at Once: Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. IMDb.
2. Zee, Michaela. "Everything Everywhere All at Once Passes Return of the King as Most-Awarded Movie Ever". IGN.
3. "2005 Artios Awards". Casting Society. The Casting Society of America.
4. "34th Artios Award Winners". Casting Society. The Casting Society of America.
5. "33rd Artios Award Winners". Casting Society. The Casting Society of America.
6. "2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA.
7. "Awards Nominees and Winners 2021".
8. Goldstein, Jessica M. "Holding Out For A Hero". Marie Claire.
9. Kemp, Sam. "See Robert Downey Jr's first audition tape for 'Iron Man'". Far Out Mag.
10. "Sarah Finn Assembled the Avengers in Real Life — and the Entirety of the MCU Kevin Feige shares how the casting director's vision has shaped cinema's biggest franchise". IndieWire. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
11. "MCU: 5 Roles That Were Perfectly Cast (& 5 Actors Who Almost Played Them)".
12. "Why Chadwick Boseman Was Always the 'Unanimous' Choice for Black Panther".
13. "Before She Was Ironheart, She Was Almost Shuri. Meet Dominique Thorne, Marvel's Newest Hero".
14. "Sarah Finn IMDb Page". IMDb.
15. "One True Loves IMDb Page". IMDb.
16. "From Yale to Hollywood: A Fireside Chat with Casting Director Sarah Finn". Alumni.Yale.
17. Kilday, Gregg. "AMPAS adds to its roster". The Hollywood Reporter.
18. "Ep. 20: Sarah Finn: Superhero of Casting". The BGB Studio.
19. "Ensemble Studio Theatre Member Artists". Ensemble Studio Theatre. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
20. Grobar, Matt (September 11, 2021). "'WandaVision' Wins First Emmys For Marvel Studios". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 19, 2022.
21. "Emmy".
22. "Artios Awards: 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,' 'Jojo Rabbit' Among Casting Society Winners".
23. "Casting Society Artios Awards: 'Encanto,' 'Don't Look Up,' 'CODA' and 'Zola' Among Winners".
24. "Artios Award Archives". CSA. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
25. "Action Icon 2022 Honorees". Action Icon Awards.

External links

• Sarah Halley Finn at IMDb