TV & Film
Congratulations are due to Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who has made history by becoming the first transgender woman to be nominated in an acting category at the Golden Globe Awards.
Gascón' received a nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, for her role in Netflix’s musical crime comedy film Emilia Pérez.
Gascon's Best Actress nomination for the film received nine other nominations making it the most nominated comedy or musical film in the awards show’s history - a record previously held by the 1975 musical comedy Nashville.
Directed by Jacques Audiard, Emilia Perez follows Gascón' as the titular character Emilia Perez, a cartel leader who enlists (Zoe Saldaña), an unhappy lawyer, to assist her in faking her death and facilitating her transition into a woman. Years later the mother of Emilia’s children Jessi (Selena Gomez) life is upended when she and her children are moved into Emilia’s home as she poses as his sister.
Gascón reacted to her nomination via Instagram writing, “It has been an overwhelming morning. I had tears in my eyes when I heard the news.I want to thank everyone at the Golden Globes for this nomination, it is amazing to be recognized."
She continued saying, ”I am very grateful to Jacques for the gift of Emilia. We could not have created the world of EMILIA PEREZ without the film’s incredible artistic and technical crew. Thank you to my castmates for giving the best of yourselves. Thanks to Netflix to all of you who support me and live my successes as if they were yours. This nomination gives me hope for humanity."
Earlier this Gascón was honored with the Cannes Best Actress award, becoming the first transgender woman to win the award in the festival's 28-year history.
Other accolades for the actress include nominations for a Critics Choice Award, a European Film Award for best European actress, and the Savannah Film Festival’s Distinguished Performance award.
Despite receiving nominations and praise for the film has faced backlash from LGBTQ+ organizations, fans, and critics.
GLAAD criticized the film calling it “not good representation” in an article highlighting reviews criticizing the film.
Kyndall Cunnigham of Vox referred to the film as “a regressive movie that thinks it’s woke”. Further criticizing the film for use of the character's trans identity as an “inherently redemptive” tool for the character's criminal past.
In his review for the film for Autostraddle Drew called the film the most “unique cis nonsense you’ll ever see.”
Next, Gascon is set to star in Trans Fairy Tale ‘Las Malas’, playing the role of Aunt Encarna, a tenacious but motherly leader of a group of Argentinian transgender sex workers.
The film based on Camila Sosa Vilada's novel of the same name is set to be directed by Academy Award-winning director Armando Bó,
In addition to his directing duties, Bó will co-write the film's script. Gascón is repped by UTA and GET Agency.