‘Emilia Pérez’ Star Karla Sofía Gascón Becomes First Openly Trans Actor Nominated for an Oscar
variety.comKatcy Stephan Karla Sofía Gascón has become the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. The Spanish star is recognized for her performance in the titular role of Jacques Audiard’s musical crime film “Emilia Pérez.” The Netflix film follows Emilia (Gascón), a feared drug lord who seeks the help of a lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), to fake her death and undergo gender-affirming surgery.
Variety‘s chief film critic Peter Debruge praised the Spanish-language film in his review, writing that Gascón “electrifies” in her role.
This isn’t Gascón’s first history-making nod this awards season: She became the first transgender woman to win the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival (an honor which she shared with her co-stars Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz) and was the first trans woman nominated for film acting at the Golden Globes.
Only three openly trans people have been nominated in any categories at the Oscars before: composer Angela Morley, musician Anohni and documentarian Yance Ford.
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