Karla Sofía Gascón has become the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGES BY NETFLIX AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES
It’s the biggest night of the year for film fans. The Academy Awards celebrate the best Hollywood had to offer in the past 12 months. 2024 has already been a great year for queer film and LGBTQIA actors are at the centre of some of the critics’ favourites.
The nominations rolled in on 23 January, after being delayed by the LA wildfires. They themselves were already pretty queer, hosted by Wicked’s Bowen Yang and staunch ally, Rachel Sennott, known for her sapphic roles in Bottoms and Shiva Baby. The pair dropped in queer pop culture reference after reference as they announced who was in with a shot for an Oscar.
There were some incredible nominations for the LGBTQIA community. Karla Sofía Gascón, nominated for Best Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez, has become the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. The film took 13 nominations, including Gascón’s, making it the most nominated film of the night. The others are for Best Picture, for which it is a frontrunner despite the controversy surrounding the film, Director, International Feature Film, Hair and Make-up, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound, Cinematography, twice for Original Song, and once for Best Supporting Actress. Zoe Saldaña was nominated in this category, with both Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz missing out.
Arguably the biggest film of the year, Wicked also received several nominations. At 10, it was joint second with The Brutalist. Its star, Cynthia Erivo, will be up against Gascón for Best Actress, and the film itself is also up for Best Picture. Ariana Grande is nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but the film did particularly well in the technical categories, taking away nominations for Costume Design, Hair and Make-up, Score, Film Editing, Sound, Production Design and Visual Effects. As none of the songs were originals, it could not be up for an award in that category, but Wicked: For Good, slated for November 2025, is expected to feature a new song, meaning it could be up for even more nominations next year.
Nosferatu, which itself isn’t queer but heavily features queer actors Lily-Rose Depp and Emma Corrin, was also dominant in the technicals. The vampire horror was nominated for Costume Design, Hair & Make-up, Production Design and Cinematography. Similarly, Inside Out 2, which stars Ayo Edebiri, was nominated for Animated Feature. Memoir Of A Snail, which tells the story of a woman trying to find her long-lost gay brother, was also nominated in that category.
The Oscars are expected to take place on 2 March.
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