Karla Sofia Gascón’s performance in Jacques Audiard’s one-of-a-kind Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez has created buzz since the film premiered at Cannes 2024. She won the festival’s prestigious Best Actress prize alongside co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez and is already in talks to be nominated for the Oscars next year.
If the prediction becomes a reality, Gascón would create history by becoming the first trans actress to earn an Oscar nomination. On Sunday, September 22, the actress attended the San Sebastian Film Festival in her native Spain and shared her reaction to the possibility.
“You can do whatever you want to win [the Oscar], if you’re not gonna win it, you’re not gonna win it,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. It turns out, the actress is a huge believer of destiny and if there’s an Oscar win or nomination meant to take place in her life, it will. Meanwhile, she can only focus on her current work and keep improving.
Moreover, she wants to be rewarded not because it would be remarkable for the Academy but solely because of her performance. “Sometimes, some people think they’ve given you the prize because you are from a particular community, not for your role, which annoys me,” she added. Gascón wants to ensure that her performance speaks for itself. “I’m not trying to have false modesty here or anything like that, but I’ve done a role very few people could have done,” she added.
She has no intention to disregard her heritage or native people “but the only thing that I can really do is act. I want the important to be there as well.” Gascón spoke about wanting to “applaud France” and Audiard for submitting a Spanish film Oscar consideration. “The French, they love their own language. They’re very much their own people. For a French director and a French crew to do a film like this I think is an amazing thing,” the actress added.
Emilia Pérez will premiere on Netflix on November 13.
