Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón makes Oscars history as first trans woman nominated

The movie, which was released back in October 2024, sees Gascón portray a cartel leader who seeks help from a lawyer to help fake their death and transition into Emilia Pérez.

Gascón has responded to the news of her nomination and shared an image on Instagram with the caption: "Thank you so much."

The premise received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike for its handling of trans representation, but Gascón has praised director Jacques Audiard approach.

In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Gascón said: "My first worry about this role is the motives [to transition from] Manitas to Emilia.

"Because this changes completely the meaning of the movie, and this was my first [question to] Jacques... why Manitas wants to be Emilia?

"Because if it's only for escape from this world [of being a drug cartel boss] then it's completely different than if this role or this character does this... because she *needs* to be a woman. And I think that he chose the best way for this film."

Gascón explained that she an Audiard worked closely together in developing the character "in every single aspect".

"Because my life experience was the most similar to Emilia, but only physically – in terms of the physical change," she said.

"Of course, Emilia's change is much more radical and much more cinematic than in real life. But yeah, we had huge numbers of conversations, and I'm so grateful to Jacques for letting me contribute to the creative process of the character, because I'm perhaps one of the few people that could tweak the Spanish or help build certain phrases and sentences.

"And I'm so happy and grateful that he let me be involved in the creative process, not only of the film, but of the character itself, because I was one of the first – or the first – actress that got involved in the film."

Emilia Pérez is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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