Trans Star Actor of Emilia Pérez Poised to Make Oscar History
January 14, 2025 – The lead actor of Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofía Gascón is set to make Oscar history by being the first trans woman nominated for best actress.
Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays the leading role in Jacques Audiard’s Spanish musical cartel crime drama Emilia Pérez, is rumored to make LGBTQ+ Oscar History. As The Hollywood Reporter stated, Gascón is poised to be the first openly trans woman nominated for best actress.
Though the Oscar nominations have been delayed due to the dreadful wildfires scorching Los Angeles, there is much speculation that Gascón will be among those nominated for best actress for her stellar performance in Emilia Pérez. In this musical motion picture, she portrays a Mexican cartel kingpin who fakes his death, transitions into a new life as a woman with the help of a corporate lawyer (Zoe Saldaña), and sends his wife (Selena Gomez) and kids to settle in Switzerland.
Successful night at the Golden Globes for Emilia Pérez
At the Golden Globes, Emilia Pérez took home four awards. These included Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Song for “El Mal”, and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical or Comedy by Zoe Saldaña.
Gascón herself had been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy, already the first openly trans performer to be so, and she gave a powerful speech advocating for the trans community.
“You can put us in jail, you can beat us up, but you can never take away our soul or our resistance or our identity,” she said. “I want to say to you, raise your voice and say that I won, I am who I am, not who you want [me to be].”
Gascón Thrives on Criticism and Hate – “I love it. It’s my gasoline.”
In an interview, Gascón tells The Hollywood Reporter about the sludge of online hate she has received. The hate is excessive; some have even made death threats against her: “I was told I would be found dismembered in a bag.”
Despite this, Gascón remains fierce and focused. She explains in the interview that she keeps many of these hate comments on her phone: “The more people hate me, the more insulting messages they send, the more I say, ‘Thank you,’ and the more I’m going to enjoy this moment.” She explains that she’s “developed a taste for revenge”. The messages fuel her: “I love it. It’s my gasoline.”
Whether this fuel will be enough to win her the Oscar waits to be seen, but one thing is clear: Karla Sofía Gascón is not going down without a fight.
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Published by HOLR Magazine
Image Credit: @karsiagascon Instagram