Watch: Zoe Saldaña Gives Emotional Speech for Historic Oscar Win
Zoe Saldana accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for "Emilia Perez during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Zoe Saldaña didn’t just make history at tonight’s Academy Awards, becoming the first Dominican to win an Oscar. She made sure everyone knew she understood the weight of those words. Saldaña was considered the frontrunner to win the Oscar after winning all the major pre-Oscar Awards: Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, BAFTAs, and SAG Awards. Still, her speech made it clear she was overcome by the moment.
“Mami,” Saldaña said as she got up, waving at her mom and telling the audience she was in the room. She thanked her team, the cast of Emilia Pérez, and her husband, but she especially thanked her family. “To my mom, my dad, and my sisters Mariel and Cisely, everything brave, outrageous, and good that I’ve ever done in my life is because of you,” she said.
But Saldaña didn’t just shout out her parents, but her roots. “My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am a proud child of immigrant parents, with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last.”
Saldaña won the Best Supporting Actress Award over Monica Barbaro, who starred in A Complete Unknown; Ariana Grande, who starred in Wicked; Felicity Jones, who starred in The Brutalist; and Isabella Rossellini, who starred in Conclave.
Emilia Pérez, a musical crime comedy—written and directed by Jacques Audiard, sees Saldaña play a lawyer, Rita Mora Castro, who is offered a lot of money to help the head of a cartel who wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery and begin living an authentic life. Years later, Emilia decides she wants to get back in contact with her children, even if she has to lie about who she is, putting Rita and everyone else in a highly complex situation. In the role, Saldaña speaks and sings in Spanish, something she also mentioned in her emotional speech.