Zoe Saldaña continued her awards season sweep for best supporting actress by taking home the SAG Award for her performance as Rita in “Emilia Pérez.” She has now was supporting actress prizes from all the major Oscar precursor awards: Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, BAFTAs and SAG. These wins make Saldaña the clear frontrunner to win the Academy Award for best supporting actress next month.
“To be in this room…this is my community, this is my circus,” Saldaña said. “Thank you to SAG-AFTRA. Igot my first SAG card in 1998. I didn’t even know what SAG was. I am grateful that my mother and father and sisters looked it up and helped me educate myself to know what it means to be a part of a union that protects me so I can make a living out of this crazy industry.”
“I am proud to be a part of a union that allows me to be who I am. I’ve never been questioned where I come from or judged for how I speak or what my pronouns are. Everyone has the right to be who they are. ‘Emilia Perez‘ is about truth and love and us actors really have to tell stories that are thought-provoking and beautiful and live within the spectrum of artistic freedom.”
Saldaña was nominated at the SAG Awards alongside Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”), Jamie Lee Curtis (“The Last Showgirl”), Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”) and Ariana Grande (“Wicked”). She is the second Latina to win the category after Ariana DeBose for “West Side Story.”
Some industry pundits had wondered earlier in the season if the controversy surrounding “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofia Gascon might impact Saldaña’s awards chances, but that has proven not to be the case. The musical’s Oscar campaign derailed after racist and offensive tweets Gascon posted on X resurfaced online last month. Saldaña weighed in on the controversy during a Q&A for the film in London.
“I’m still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I’m sad. It makes me really sad because I don’t support [it], and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group,” Saldaña said.
She continued, “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 was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural, and gender equity. And it just saddens me. It saddens me that we are having to face this setback right now.”
Next up for Saldaña’s awards season journey is the Oscars on Sunday, March 2.
