April Webster April Webster , CSA , is an Emmy Award - winning Hollywood casting director whose company , April Webster Casting , worked on for director and producer J . J . Abrams . Webster had previously collaborated with Abrams on his first film , " Mission : Impossible III " , as well as the television series " Alias " , " Lost " , and " Six Degrees " . She cast the film in collaboration with Alyssa Weisberg , who was Webster ' s co - casting director on " Lost " and her casting associate on " Mission : Impossible III " . Webster and Weisberg both won the Casting Society of America ' s 2009 Artios Award for their work on " Star Trek " . Webster and Weisberg also worked on the sequel for J . J . Abrams and as of August 2011 already had a full casting team chosen . More recently , Webster and Weisberg started to cast actors through their company April Webster & Associates for the sequel directed by Justin Lin . Early credits . Webster was responsible for the Los Angeles casting for the 1982 film " Shoot the Moon " , starring Peter Weller . In 1982 , she became casting director on the popular NBC television series " Knight Rider " , where she worked until 1984 . She moved on to another NBC series , " Night Court " , starring John Larroquette . She was also the casting director for the pilot of the CBS series " Charles in Charge " . Her first film as principal casting director was the 1983 drama " Stacy ' s Knights " . She helped cast a pre - TNG Denise Crosby in the 1985 made - for - TV movie " Stark " and cast actor James B . Sikking and performer Marc Alaimo in the 1987 telefilm " Police Story : The Freeway Killings " . She then cast the 1990 science fiction comedy " Martians Go Home " , working with " Star Trek " performers Lee Arenberg , Roy Brocksmith , Ronny Cox , and Bruce French . She also cast the pilot for the cult comic book - based series " The Flash " and the television movie " Flash III : Deadly Nightshade " , the latter of which featured a " post " - TNG Denise Crosby and a pre - " " Jeri Ryan . Later projects . Webster was casting director for on the science fiction films " Stargate " ( 1994 , starring Erick Avari and Leon Rippy ) , " Godzilla " ( 1998 , featuring Clyde Kusatsu and Glenn Morshower ) , and " The Day After Tomorrow " ( 2004 , featuring Aaron Lustig ) . She also helped cast DS9 star Rene Auberjonois in Emmerich ' s American Revolution action film " The Patriot " ( 2000 , co - starring Leon Rippy ) . From 1994 through 1999 , Webster was a casting director on the hit situation comedy series " The Nanny " , starring TNG guest actor Daniel Davis . From 1996 through 2002 , Webster frequently worked with fellow casting director David Bloch . Their first collaboration was the 1996 television movie " Grand Avenue " , which earned Webster her first Emmy Award nomination as well as her first Artios Award nomination from the Casting Society of America ( CAS , of which Webster is a member ) . Their subsequent collaborations include the aforementioned " Godzilla " and " The Patriot " , the 1999 science fiction film " The Thirteenth Floor " ( featuring Leon Rippy ) , and the pilot episode of " Providence " ( 1999 , starring Concetta Tomei ) . She and Bloch shared Artios nominations for " Providence " and " The Patriot " . In 2000 , Webster cast the pilot for the hit CBS series " CSI : Crime Scene Investigation " . She also cast several regular episode of that series between 2000 and 2006 . She has been working on another CBS series , " Criminal Minds " , between 2005 and 2015 , and its spin - off series " Criminal Minds : Suspect Behavior " ( 2011 ) . Webster is also one of the casting directors on the apocalyptic action - thriller " 2012 " ( 2009 ) . Other projects include the action series " Leverage " ( 2008 - 2010 , starring Jeri Ryan ) , the crime series " Dark Blue " ( 2009 - 2010 , with Bertrand Roberson , Jr . ) , the crime series " The Forgotten " ( 2009 - 2010 , starring Christian Slater ) and the drama series " Army Wives " ( 2007 - 2013 , starring Brian McNamara and Brigid Brannagh ) . Webster cast the mystery series " Bates Motel " ( 2013 - 2014 , with Mike Vogel ) and ' s science fiction film " Tomorrowland " ( 2014 , produced and co - written by Damon Lindelof and with Paul McGillion ) . For " Bates Motel " , Webster received an Artios Award nomination in 2013 in the category Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Pilot - Drama , which she shared with Sara Isaacson , Jennifer Page , and Corinne Clark . More recent projects include the television horror series " The Strain " ( 2014 - 2015 , co - executive produced by Bradley Thompson ) and the drama series " Full Circle " ( 2013 - 2015 , starring Aaron Haedt and Terry O ' Quinn ) . Announced is her participation in casting the pilot episode of " Colony " ( 2015 , with Teebone MItchell ) on which she is working with Erica L . Silverman . Work with Abrams . Webster first worked with J . J . Abrams on his hit series " Alias " . Webster cast many episodes of this series from 2002 until its end in 2005 and received an Emmy Award nomination ( her second ) for this series in 2002 as well as three Artios nominations . For the twenty - second episode of " Alias " ( entitled " Almost Thirty Years " ) , Webster worked not as a casting director but as an actress , making an uncredited appearance as Irina Derevko , the mother of the show ' s main character , since the role had not yet been cast . While " Alias " was still in production , Webster began simultaneously working on Abrams ' next series , " Lost " , co - created by Damon Lindelof . Among the actors she helped cast on this series were Terry O ' Quinn ( who also appeared on " Alias " ) and Daniel Dae Kim . Webster won the 2005 Emmy Award in Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series for " Lost " and received an additional Emmy nomination the following year . In addition , Webster received three Artios nominations for " Lost " , winning one . She continues to work on " Lost " until 2010 . Abrams hired Webster to cast his first film , the 2006 Paramount Pictures release " Mission : Impossible III " , co - written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci . Among the performers Webster helped cast for this film was Simon Pegg ( who was later cast as in " Star Trek " ) , one - time DS9 guest actress Tracy Middendorf , and the aforementioned Bruce French . Afterward , Webster cast the pilot for Abrams ' short - lived series " Six Degrees " ( 2006 ) and " Person of Interest " ( 2011 ) , the Abrams - directed HBO medical drama pilot " Anatomy of Hope " ( 2009 ) and the science fiction television series , " Fringe " ( 2008 - 2013 ) , created by Abrams , Alex Kurtzman , and Roberto Orci . On 1 November 2006 , Abrams presented Webster with the Hoyt Bowers Award , a special achievement award given at the Artios Awards by the CSA . Former " Star Trek " casting director Junie Lowry - Johnson won her own Artios Award at that same event . More recent projects with Abrams include the action sequel " Mission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol " ( 2011 , with Simon Pegg , producers Jeffrey Chernov , Bryan Burk , David Ellison , Tommy Harper , and Ben Rosenblatt ) , the crime series " Alcatraz " ( 2012 , starring Leon Rippy ) , the science fiction series " Revolution " ( 2012 - 2014 , starring Billy Burke and recurring guest stars Stephen Collins , Leslie Hope , and Steven Culp ) , and the science fiction series " Almost Human " ( 2013 - 2014 , starring Karl Urban ) . Most recently , Webster worked with Weisberg on the casting for the science fiction sequel " Star Wars : Episode VII - The Force Awakens " ( 2015 ) , written , directed and produced by J . J . Abrams . Other " Trek " alumni include producers Bryan Burk , Tommy Gormley , Tommy Harper , Michelle Rejwan , and Ben Rosenblatt , cinematography by Daniel Mindel , editing by Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey , costume design by Michael Kaplan , sound design by Ben Burtt and Andy Nelson , casting associate Jessica F . Sherman , and stunts by Mike Massa .