'Emilia Pérez' star Karla Sofía Gascón is 1st out trans actor nominated for an Oscar
Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish language, French-made film, dominated the Academy Award nominations with 13 Oscar nods.
In the wake of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles that struck at the heart of the movie industry, an embattled Hollywood lined up behind the Netflix narco-musical about trans identity “Emilia Pérez” in Oscar nominations Thursday.
Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish language, French-made film, dominated the nominations with a leading 13 nominations, including best picture and best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, making her the first openly trans actor ever nominated for an Oscar. The film also landed nominations for directing, original screenplay, two of its songs and for Zoe Saldaña.
Zoe Saldaña as Rita in "Emilia Pérez."NetflixNetflix, despite its starring role in Hollywood, has never won best picture. Many of its top contenders have previously racked up large numbers of nominations (including “Mank,” “The Irishman” and “Roma”) but gone home with only a handful of trophies.
“Emilia Pérez,” though, may be its best chance yet. It became the most nominated non-English language film ever, surpassing Netflix’s own “Roma,” which landed 10 nominations. Only three films — “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land” — have scored more nominations in Academy Awards history.
Another musical — “Wicked,” the smash Broadway adaptation — came away with nearly as many nominations. Jon M. Chu’s lavish “Wizard of Oz” riff collected 10 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
Rating: 5