Karla Sofía Gascón becomes 1st openly trans actor to snag Oscar nomination

ByCarson Blackwelder ABCNews logo
Thursday, January 23, 2025 6:06PM
Oscar nominations 2025: 'Emilia Pérez' leads the pack
After a series of delays due to the Los Angeles-area fires, the 97th Oscar nominations presentation took place this morning. Leading the pack is "Emilia Pérez" with 13 nominations, followed by "The Brutalist" and "Wicked" with 10 each.

LOS ANGELES -- Karla Sofía Gascón is making history with her 2025 Oscars nomination.

With her best actress nomination for "Emilia Pérez," Gascón becomes the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award.

OSCARS 2025: See the full list of Academy Awards nominees

Gascón plays the titular role in the film, a Mexican drug cartel leader who -- with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldaña -- fakes her death and undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Years later, Emilia attempts to right the wrongs of her past and reconnect with her former wife, played by Selena Gomez, and her children.

The Spanish actress previously won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival -- shared with co-stars Saldaña, Gomez and Adriana Paz -- and was nominated for a Golden Globe. In addition to her Oscar nomination, she is also up for a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Elliot Page was previously nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Juno" in 2008, prior to coming out as transgender.

OSCARS 2025: Here are your 1st-time Oscar nominees

"Emilia Pérez" is the most-nominated film of the year at the 97th Academy Awards, having scored 13 nominations in total -- including Gascón's and a coveted best picture nod.

Other nominations for the film include best supporting actress for Saldaña, best cinematography, best director for Jacques Audiard, best film editing, best international feature film, best makeup and hairstyling, best original score, best original song for "El Mal" and "Mi Camino," best sound and best adapted screenplay.

Find out to see if Gascón can take home the trophy when the 2025 Oscars air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu.

March 2 is Oscar Sunday! Watch the 2025 Oscars live on ABC.

Live red carpet coverage starts at 4 p.m. ET | 1 p.m. PT with "On The Red Carpet at the Oscars."

Watch all the action on the red carpet live on ABC, streaming live on OnTheRedCarpet.com and on the On the Red Carpet Facebook and YouTube pages.

The 97th Oscars, hosted by Conan O'Brien, begins at 7 p.m. ET | 4 p.m. PT. The Oscars are followed by a special preview of "American Idol."

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