Lily Gladstone makes Oscar history as 1st Native American nominated for best actress

ByCarson Blackwelder via GMA ABCNews logo
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
'Seen and represented': Lily Gladstone makes Oscars history
Lily Gladstone has made history with her 2024 Oscar nomination. No Indigenous or Native American actor has ever won an Academy Award for acting.

Lily Gladstone has made history with her 2024 Oscar nomination.

Gladstone, who is of Siksikaitsitapi and NiMíiPuu heritage, is the first Native American woman to be nominated for best actress. She is up for her performance in "Killers of the Flower Moon," a film chronicling the series of real-life murders of members of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma, known as the Reign of Terror.

Though she is the first Native American to be nominated in the category, she is not the first Indigenous nominee. Other known Indigenous best actress nominees include Yalitza Aparicio for 2018's "Roma" and Keisha Castle-Hughes for 2003's "Whale Rider."

Lily Gladstone arrives at the 29th Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.
Lily Gladstone arrives at the 29th Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.
(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Gladstone reacted to her historic nomination Tuesday morning in a phone interview with ABC News.

"It's overdue, and it's not the first," she said. "I remember how I felt when Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated as the first Indigenous best actress in 'Whale Rider' and seeing that film, seeing a young woman lead that kind of immense work and that kind of groundbreaking shift in the world, that was such an inspiration to me."

Gladstone also said that she's excited for others in her community to "feel seen and represented," adding, "I'm processing, I'm digesting, but I'm so incredibly grateful."

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No Indigenous or Native American actor has ever won an Academy Award for acting. Wes Studi, who is Native American from the Cherokee Nation, was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2020.

Gladstone won the Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture (drama) earlier this month, delivering a powerful acceptance speech, and also won the Nation Board of Review award for best actress.

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Actress Zazie Beetz and actor Jack Quaid announced the nominations across all 23 categories for the 96th Academy Awards from the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" is up for 10 Oscars this year. The film, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, scored a best picture nomination as well as a best director nomination for Martin Scorsese, among others.

The 96th Academy Awards will take place March 10, airing live on ABC.

Mark your calendar: March 10, 2024 is Oscar Sunday. The 2024 Oscars air live on ABC. After the last award is handed out, stay with "On The Red Carpet" for continuing coverage. Be sure to follow @OnTheRedCarpet for all your Oscar news and information. Watch "On The Red Carpet" wherever you stream.

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