In this week's Academy Originals we sat down with writer/director Ernest Dickerson who recounts the story about hiring a young (and relatively unknown) Tupac Shakur in the gritty film "Juice".

"Tupac at that time was still a background singer and roadie for Digital Underground," Dickerson recalled. "And while we were shooting he was always writing," Dickerson added, suspecting that what he was writing were some of the powerful tunes that people have been listening to for decades now.

Casting Director and Academy governor Bernard Telsey (Into The Woods, A Most Violent Year and Across the Universe Movie) took part in our ongoing Academy Q&A series.

Here are some highlights from his hour-long interview.

Q: Have you ever watched a film that you didn't cast and said to yourself, "wow, that was great casting?"

Believe it or not, but casting the role of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial's BFF in 1981 wasn't as simple as just phoning home.