Zoe Saldaña Receives First Oscar Nomination of Her Career for ‘Emilia Pérez’
Emilia Pérez. Zoe Saldaña as Rita Moro Castro in Emilia Pérez. Cr. Shanna Besson/PAGE 114 - WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS - PATHÉ FILMS - FRANCE 2 CINÉMA © 2024.
Zoe Saldaña is an Oscar nominee. The actress, who just won a Golden Globe for her role as Rita Mora Castro in the film Emilia Pérez, is now in the running to win the first Oscar of her career. This is Saldaña’s first nomination.
She is not the first Afro-Latina to be nominated, Ariana DeBose was previously nominated for West Side Story and went on to win, but this is still an achievement for Saldaña, who joins a short list of Latinas who have been nominated. She will be competing against 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.
In the film Saldaña plays a lawyer, Rita Mora Castro, who writes a defense for a murder case and then receives a very lucrative offer from the head of a cartel who wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery and begin living an authentic life. Rita helps, but years later, when Emilia wants to get back in contact with her children, even if she has to lie about who she is, things get very, very complicated.
Zoe Saldaña shared her excitement for the Oscar nomination in an Instagram post. She said, “I am truly honored and grateful for the nomination. Thank you so much for considering me for this award. I am thrilled to be among such talented company.”
The movie is a musical crime comedy, written and directed by Jacques Audiard.
The 97th Academy Awards are set to air live March 2, at 7 PM ET/4PM PT on ABC and Hulu.