Zoe Saldana sweeps award season as she wins Best Supporting Actress at 2025 Oscars for ‘Emilia Pérez’

nypost.com:

Zoe Saldana’s talent is undeniable.The star, 46, took home her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Emilia Pérez” at the 2025 Academy Awards on Sunday.“My mom is here.

My whole family is here. I am floored by this honor,” Saldana said through tears while accepting her award. “To my cast and my crew of ‘Emilia Pérez,’ I’m sharing this award with you.”She added: “To my mom, my dad and my sisters — everything brave, outrageous and good I’ve ever done in my life is because of you.”Giving her other half, Marco Perego, whom she married in 2013, a shout-out, Saldana continued, “And to my husband with that beautiful hair, the biggest honor in my life is being your partner.“My grandmother came to this country in 1961.

I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands. I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I won’t be the last.”She beat out Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”), Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”) and Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”).The accolade comes after Saldana swept awards season, taking home the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild awards for playing lawyer Rita Mora Castro.The then-20-year-old actress made her acting debut in 1999 with a guest role in an episode of “Law & Order.”At 21, Saldana put on her pointe shoes as she landed her first feature film role in the 2000 dance musical “Center Stage” as ballet dancer Eva Rodriguez.“I went in and I read the sides, and they liked what I did and then they asked me to come back and they put me with a ballet teacher in a room and they just video recorded me doing some moves,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2022 about.