Zoe Salda?a expresses surprise after London Film Critics Circle win: ‘I wasn’t expecting this, especially now’
As Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón continued to generate negative headlines over her offensive past social media posts and subsequent attempts to contextualize her inflammatory remarks, an emotional Zoe Salda?a accepted Best Supporting Actress from the London Film Critics Circle on Sunday for her performance in the fledgling Best Picture contender.
“I didn’t have anything prepared, you guys. I wasn’t expecting this, and especially now,” Salda?a said, referencing the controversy. “I’m so grateful to you.”
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The actress — who remains the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress despite the growing consensus that Gascón’s problematic social media posts will impact the film’s Oscar chances — spoke with visible emotion during her speech. “It is hard, it is very challenging, to believe in something with so much conviction that you are willing to go against the grain,” she said. “And sometimes the grain can betray you, because the grain can tell you that it is the right path. But you believe in your heart and you do it. And I feel like that is the path of an artist, is to believe in what you’re feeling, if it’s coming from a place of love and purity and knowledge and education, research and hard work. Emilia was done with so much of all of those things.”
While Salda?a didn’t mention Gascón by name, she did thank the film’s cast, which also includes Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. “When we all came together, we came with all of our luggage, all of our baggage, and we put it on the table, and we just made a lot with what we had,” she said. “Something really beautiful came of it, and you saw it. So I want to thank you for seeing it.”
Salda?a, who has won several precursor awards this season, including Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, concluded her London Film Critics Circle speech with a plea for people to have a less binary approach to absolution. “If there’s one thing I want to leave you with, please be abstract with your idea of redemption. Keep your minds and your hearts open always, and keep making art and telling your truth, please,” she said.
Last week, offensive and often bigoted social media posts attributed to Gascón resurfaced online and sent the Oscar race into uncharted waters. The actress, the first openly trans woman nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, responded to the outrage over her opinions by releasing several statements and even sitting down for an unsanctioned interview with CNN en Espa?ol. (While Gascón’s initial statement, where she expressed contrition “to those I have caused pain,” was sent out on her behalf by Emilia Pérez, distributor of Netflix, her other media appearances and statements have been handled without the guidance of the studio, according to several reports.)
Thus far, Salda?a is the only member of the Emilia Pérez cast or crew to comment on Gascón’s controversy publicly. Speaking at an event for the movie in London on Friday, Salda?a was offered the opportunity to comment on the controversy. “I’m still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I’m sad,” she said. “It makes me really sad because I don’t support, and I don’t have any tolerance for, any negative rhetoric towards people of any group. I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them were about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural, and gender equity. And it just saddens me.”
She continued, “It saddens me that we are having to face this setback right now. But I’m happy that you’re all here and that you’re all still showing up for Emilia because the message that this film has is so powerful and the change that it can bring forward to communities that are marginalized day in and day out is important. And all that I can attest is that all of us that came together to tell this story, we came together for love and for respect and curiosity, and we will continue to spread that message. That’s all we can say right now. Thank you.”
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