Stars turn out to honour casting directors at Artios Awards

Jake Gyllenhaal, Orlando Bloom and Kerry Washington were among the stars who turned out to honour the casting directors behind projects such as Argo and Homeland at the annual Artios Awards on Monday (18Nov13).

The awards were handed out at two ceremonies, held in New York City and Los Angeles, and the honourees at the west coast event included the teams behind Oscar-winning dramas Silver Linings Playbook and Argo, as well as TV hits Homeland and Girls, House of Cards and Michael Douglas' TV movie Behind the Candelabra.

During the show, hosted by actress Aisha Tyler, Kerry Washington presented the Hoyt Bowers Award to casting director Linda Lowy, who cast her in hit TV show Scandal, while Grey's Anatomy stars Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson feted their casting boss in a video tribute.

Jake Gyllenhaal was also among the presenters and he gave a speech paying tribute to the work done by casting directors throughout the industry, saying, "On behalf of me, my sister (actress Maggie Gyllenhaal), my brother-in-law, who's an actor (Peter Sarsgaard), my mother and my father. We could not have done it without you. It's actually really wonderful to see casting directors get up here and be more nervous than I've ever seen them. Now you know how we (actors) feel!"

At the ceremony in New York, actor Michael J. Fox was presented with the New York Apple Award, which honours individuals who make a commitment to the New York entertainment industry through partnerships with casting directors.