Karla Sofía Gascón is the first trans acting Oscar nominee

Karla Sofía Gascón became the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Oscar. The Spanish star is recognized for her performance in the lead role in Jacques Audiard’s musical crime film “Emilia Pérez”.

The Netflix film follows Emilia (Gascón), a feared drug lord who seeks the help of a lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), to fake her death and undergo gender affirmation surgery. VarietyChief film critic Peter Debruge praised the Spanish-language film in his review, writing that Gascón “electrifies” in his role.

This isn’t the first time Gascón has made a historic nod this season: She became the first transgender woman to win the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival (an honor she shared with her co -stars Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz). and was the first trans woman nominated for a film at the Golden Globes.

Only three openly trans people have been nominated in all categories at the Oscars before: composer Angela Morley, musician Anohni and documentarian Yance Ford. Elliot Page was nominated for his work on “Juno” in 2007 before coming out as transgender in 2020.

The Oscars have also recognized cisgender actors for playing transgender characters on previous occasions, including Jared Leto for “Dallas Buyers Club” and Hilary Swank for “Boys Don’t Cry.” Eddie Redmayne also got a nod for “The Danish Girl.”

Before starring in “Emilia Pérez,” Gascón was best known as a star of telenovelas, including Telemundo’s international Emmy-winning “El Señor de los Cielos” and Netflix’s Mexican teen drama “Rebelde.” On film, Gascón starred in Gaz Alazraki’s 2013 black comedy, “Nosotros los Nobles” for Warner Bros.