Zoe Salda?a Wins Best Supporting Actress: “I Am a Proud Child of Immigrant Parents”
While accepting her first Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in Emilia Pérez, a tearful Zoe Salda?a talked about her family, many of whom were in the room at the Dolby.
Salda?a, who called out her mother right as she got to the microphone, said in her speech, “I am a proud child of immigrant parents, with dreams and dignity and hard working hands.”
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Salda?a also talked about the importance of winning the award for a role where she was acting in Spanish. “My grandmother came to this country in 1961,” said the actress. “My grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted by this.”
During The Hollywood Reporter’s actress roundtable, Salda?a talked about how her grandmother supported her acting ambitions, saying, “I remember being a child and walking by Lincoln Center and [my grandmother] would go, ‘Look, look, look,’ while she was smoking her cigarette, like, ‘One day, one day you’re going to be there.’ And I remember thinking like, ‘What is she saying?’”
The Hollywood Reporter review of Emilia Pérez out of the Cannes Film Festival simply reads: “Zo? Salda?a has never been better.”
Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unkown), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) and Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) were also nominated in the category. Salda?a was long expected to be the front runner of the supporting actress race, having won both the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globes in the category. Emilia Pérez is the most nominated movie at the 2025 Oscars, with nominations across best picture, best actress and best director.
During her speech, Salda?a added: “I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award and I will not be the last.”
The 97th Academy Awards were hosted by Conan O’Brien at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. See the star-studded Oscars red carpet 2025 arrivals from Sunday night. See the full winners list here.
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