Zoe Saldaña won the Oscar for supporting actress for her role as an attorney for a cartel leader in Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” and paid tribute to the cast and her own family in an emotional speech.
Saldaña shouted out the “Emilia Pérez” cast in her Oscar acceptance speech, saying “Thank you to the Academy, for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita, and talking about powerful women. Jacques, you are a beloved character in my life. Thank you for taking the interest, thank you for being so curious about these women to tell this story. To my cast and my crew of ‘Emilia Perez,’ I’m sharing this award with you.
Saldaña then spoke emotionally about her family and her grandmother, tearing up during her speech. “My grandmother came to this country in 1961 — I am a proud child of immigrant parents,” she said. “With dreams and dignity and hard-working hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last. I hope. The fact that I’m getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish — my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted, this is for my grandmother.”
Saldaña also took home the SAG Award for supporting actress for “Emilia Pérez” as well as a BAFTA award, Golden Globe and Critics Choice award. Last year, she shared the best actress award when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival with her co-stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Karla Sofia Gascón.
“Emilia Pérez” was nominated for 13 Oscars, the most of any film. But despite Saldaña’s numerous kudos, the Spanish language musical has had a rocky path this awards season. Gascón, who was nominated for best actress, came under fire for a series of offensive tweets, which led to a series of apologies from the Spanish performer. French filmmaker Audiard was criticized for saying Spanish was the language of “poor people and migrants,” and for failing to grasp the nuances of Mexican culture and of trans depictions.
At the Oscars, Saldaña faced off against Monica Barbaro, who played Joan Baez in “A Complete Unknown,” Isabella Rossellini for “Conclave,” Felicity Jones for “The Brutalist” and Ariana Grande for “Wicked.”
After appearing in some of the most successful films of all time, including “Avatar,” “Avatar The Way of Water” and “Avengers: Endgame,” Saldana went on to star in the Paramount+ action series “Lioness,” for which she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.
See her full speech here:
From Variety US