Zoe Saldaña won the Academy Award for best supporting actress on Sunday night for her role in the Netflix film Emilia Pérez. Saldaña plays Rita Mora Castro, a lawyer who helps the title character, a trans cartel boss, undergo gender-affirming surgery and start a new life as a woman.
This is Saldaña's first-ever Oscar win and her first Oscar nomination. She is also the first Dominican American to win an Academy Award.
"I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands," she said in an emotional acceptance speech. "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, would've been so delighted."
Emilia Pérez led the night in Academy Award nominations with 13 nods, including Saldaña's.
She also took home the award for best supporting actress at the Golden Globes in early January and at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) and the Screen Actors Guild Awards in February. At the Cannes Film Festival, Saldaña won a joint best actress award along with her Emilia Pérez co-stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz.
Since its release, the film has faced backlash for its portrayal of Mexican culture and the trans experience, which LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD has said is "not good trans representation."
In recent months, the film's Oscars campaign spiraled when offensive tweets from star Karla Sofía Gascón resurfaced online. Saldaña said when the tweets recirculated that she was saddened by what had transpired.
"I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group," she shared at a movie Q&A.
The movie's turbulent Oscars campaign seems not to have swayed Oscars voters against Saldaña's performance in the film.
The actress is also known for her roles as Neytiri in the Avatar films and as Gamora in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
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