Zoë Saldaña makes history with Oscars win and gives heartbreaking acceptance speech
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: ABC
Zoë Saldaña won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez making history as the first American of Dominican heritage to win an Academy Award.
Today (March 3) at the 97th Academy Awards ceremony, Zoe Saldaña won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Rita Mora Castro - the defense lawyer of cartel leader - in musical crime film Emilia Pérez - and dedicated the award to her fellow cast and crew alongside her grandmother.
During her acceptance speech for the award, she said: "I am floored [...] Thank you to the Academy, for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita, and talking about powerful women. Jacques, you are a beloved character in my life. Thank you for taking the interest, thank you for being so curious about these women to tell this story.
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"To my cast and my crew of Emilia Pérez. I’m sharing this award with you."
Saldaña went on to thank her 'mom and dad and sisters'. "Everything brave, outrageous and good that I’ve ever done in my life is because of you," she added, also praising her husband, Marco Perego-Saldaña and it being 'the biggest honor' of her 'life' to have him as a partner.
She said: "You hung the moon in our beautiful perfect sons, Cy, Bowie and Zen. They fill our skies every night with stars."
She then dedicated the award to her grandmother who 'came to this country in 1961'.
The actor continued: "I am a proud child of immigrant parents. With dreams and dignity and hard-working hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last, I hope.
"The fact that I’m getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish - my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted, this is for my grandmother."
The award not only marks Saldaña's first Oscar win but, as she pointed out, also sees her make history as the first American of Dominican origin to win an Academy Award.
Also up for the category were Monica Barbaro for her role as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown, Isabella Rossellini for Conclave, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist and Ariana Grande for Wicked.
Emilia Pérez went into the 97th Academy Awards with a staggering 13 nominations and, at the time of writing, has taken home the award for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song too.