Lily Gladstone reacts to her historic Oscar nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon. After months of critical acclaim, Killers of the Flower Moon scored several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Gladstone. With this nomination, Gladstone became the first indigenous woman from the United States ever to be nominated for the award.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Gladstone has an emotional response to this historic Oscar nomination. Gladstone started her statement by paying tribute to the fantastic indigenous actresses who came before her, including Thunderheart’s Sheila Tousey and Whale Rider’s Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was “the youngest and first Indigenous nominee in the category.” Gladstone went on to remind people that her Killers of the Flower Moon recognition is “not fully” hers but rather belongs to “the Osage Nation, the Blackfeet Nation, the Nez Perce Nation, every Indigenous actor whose shoulders [she] stand[s] on.” Check out Gladstone’s full quote below:
It’s incredible, and a huge part of me just wants to say that it shouldn’t have been me. This should have happened so much longer ago. I shared the screen in this film with Tantoo Cardinal, who’s from Canada, but that’s a border that crossed a lot of us. I grew up watching performances from Sheila Tousey, who I was lucky enough to share the stage with at one point in my career. Her work in Thunderheart, I feel like after that, she should have been in every film and nominated for everything. There’s no actress alive that surpasses Sheila’s talent. She’s one of the true greats.
It’s incredible that this has happened, and it took a while. I remember when Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for Whale Rider, and I remember how I felt when I watched this incredible actress, the youngest and first Indigenous nominee in the category, tell this story. That felt so universal and felt so close to my upbringing, to my relationship with my land, with my family, with my father, with my language, all of it. It was incredible to see her representation, and this feels like it’s a true honor.
I always say this, but it’s not fully mine. It belongs to so many people: the Osage Nation, the Blackfeet Nation, the Nez Perce Nation, every Indigenous actor whose shoulders I stand on. It’s circumstantial that I’m the first, and I’m so very grateful. I just know that I’m not going to be the last, not by a long shot.
Who Will Win Best Actress At The Oscars This Year?
The Best Actress category is a major point of contention this year at the Oscars. Notably, the category includes what is thought to be a major snub in omitting Barbie star Margot Robbie. Instead, the nominees for the award include Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon, Annette Bening for Nyad, Emma Stone for Poor Things, Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall, and Carey Mulligan for Maestro.
Among these five nominees, both Gladstone and Stone have Golden Globe wins behind them for their respective films. Gladstone won the Golden Globe this year for Best Actress in a Drama, whereas Stone won for the Musical or Comedy category. With this highly-coveted prize behind their belt, as well as nominations for both of them at the SAG awards and Critics Choice Awards — the latter of which Stone took home — both actresses have significant enough awards momentum to push them to the front of the field.
10 Biggest Takeaways From Killers Of The Flower Moon’s Glowing Reviews
Killers of the Flower Moon has been praised by critics with a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Here are the biggest takeaways from the film’s reviews.
Both Gladstone and Stone are deserving of the prize for different reasons. In Poor Things, Stone delivers a career-best performance that is vibrant and showcases a feat of physical acting amidst brilliant verbal comedic timing. In Killers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone acts as the film’s emotional heart even when her character’s misfortune often renders her voiceless. With two stellar performances, it is hard to say which one of these two actresses will take home Best Actress at the Academy Awards come March, but Gladstone’s historic nomination should be celebrated.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon is the next film from director Martin Scorsese, based on the non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, initially captured by David Grann. When members of the Osage tribe are murdered in the 1920s via mysterious circumstances shortly after the discovery of oil on Native-American soil, the FBI is established to uncover the true reason behind them.
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio , Louis Cancelmi , Jillian Dion , Scott Shepherd , Jesse Plemons , JaNae Collins , Robert De Niro , Jason Isbell , Cara Jade Myers , Lily Gladstone
- Runtime
- 200minutes
- Writers
- Eric Roth , Martin Scorsese
- Budget
- $200 million
- Studio(s)
- Paramount Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Apple , Paramount Pictures
