Kharmel Cochrane

Biography

Kharmel Cochrane is a highly respected British casting director who began her career at just 18, initially working as an assistant before founding her own casting company in London in 2011, at the age of 25. She first gained attention for her work on the Daniel Wolfe music video Time to Dance, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Callum Turner, which marked her transition into casting and led quickly to feature film opportunities. Over the subsequent fourteen years, Cochrane built a reputation for championing fresh, diverse talent and navigating both indie and studio projects with equal flair. Her early film work included Lilting (2014) and the BAFTA-winning short Home (2016), which helped solidify her reputation in the industry. She went on to cast acclaimed films such as The Witch(2015), The End of the F**king World (2017), The Lighthouse (2019), Saint Maud (2019), and The Northman (2022), demonstrating her range across genres from psychological horror to intimate indie drama. In more recent years she has worked on major and high-profile projects like John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), Rye Lane(2023), Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (2023), Bob Marley: One Love (2024), and A Quiet Place: Day One (2024), collaborating with international directors such as Edgar Wright, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Romain Gavras, Kristoffer Borgli, and Chris Columbus. Cochrane has received considerable recognition from her peers through multiple awards and nominations. At the 2024 Casting Directors’ Guild Awards, she won Best Casting in an Independent Film for Rye Lane. She was also nominated for Best Casting in a Film for Saltburn and for Best Casting in a Commercial for a campaign titled Vanish, ‘Me, My Autism & I’. The Casting Directors Association had previously nominated her for Best Casting in a Feature Film & Drama for Rye Lane (2023), as well as Best Casting of a Feature and Short in earlier years for The Northman and I Love You I Hate You (2022). On the industry awards front, Saltburn earned her a nomination from the Casting Society of America’s Artios Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Big Budget Feature – Drama (2024), and the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards nominated her under Technical Achievement of the Year for casting in Saltburn (2024). Additionally, she received BIFA nominations for Best Casting for Saint Maud (2021), The Silent Twins (2022), and Rye Lane (2023). Throughout her career, Kharmel Cochrane has remained a champion of inclusive casting, consistently discovering and promoting emerging talent across diverse British and international productions.