Lily Gladstone at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards Jan. 14.Photo:Robert Smith/Patrick McMullan via Getty
Robert Smith/Patrick McMullan via Getty
Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone may be a fresh face at Hollywood’s awards ceremonies this season. ButKillers of the Flower Moonis only the latest in a long line of strong performances from the Native American actress.
Gladstone, 37, has earned her first recognition from theAcademy Awards— ahistory-making nomination— for playing the real-life Mollie Burkhart (née Kyle) inMartin Scorsese’s crime drama about the 1920sOsage Nation killings, co-adapted with Eric Roth from David Grann’s non-fictionbook of the same name.
Read on to learn more about thefirst Native Americanto be nominated in the Oscars' Best Actress category.
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Gladstone grew up in the Blackfeet Nation of Montana
Born in 1986 in Kalispell, Montana, Gladstonespent her formative yearson theBlackfeet Reservationin Browning, Montana. Her father is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage, while her mother is of European descent.
Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio at the 2024 Annual Golden Globe Awards Jan. 7.Lionel Hahn/Getty
Lionel Hahn/Getty
“I just spoke a bit of Blackfeet language, a beautiful community nation that raised me, that encouraged me to keep going, keep doing this here with my mom, who, even though she’s not Blackfeet, worked tirelessly to get our language into our classroom so I had a Blackfeet language teacher growing up," she said.
She caught Scorsese’s attention with her breakoutCertain Womenperformance
After making a film debut in 2012’sJimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, Gladstone worked steadily until her breakout role as a rancher in Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 hitCertain Women.The indie film, which costarredKristen Stewart,Laura DernandMichelle Williams, earned Gladstone recognition from the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards and multiple critics groups.
The performance also earned Scorsese’s approval. But Gladstone didn’t receive an email about working with the Oscar-winning director until she wasready to quit actingin 2020. “I had my credit card out, registering for a data analytics course,” she toldThe Hollywood Reporterahead ofKillers of the Flower Moon’sCannes Film Festival premierein May 2023.
Instead of applying for seasonal work at the Department of Agriculture and following a desire to study murder hornets as a self-professed “bee nerd,” Gladstone joined Scorsese and his on-screen musesLeonardo DiCaprioandRobert De Niroin recreating the Osage serial killings, one of American history’s darkest chapters.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off of her,” Scorsese toldVarietyof her performance inCertain Women. “Lily’s character was quiet, she spoke very little, but she commanded the screen with her presence, with every move, every gesture. There are very few actors around who know how to hold the screen like that, and it was perfect for the character of Mollie.”
DiCaprio toldTHRthat Gladstone “became a source of guidance for all of us, Scorsese included, in terms of how we told the story” ofKillers. He added that his costar “spent months studying Mollie Burkhart and her family, working extensively to understand the intricacies of this woman, her relationship with [my character] Ernest and her legacy within the Osage community.”
She is a vocal advocate for Native American representation — including in her style
While promotingKillers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone has taken every chance todiscussthe visibility of Indigenous American artists andcelebratetheir authentic representation.
The actress continued her speech: “I’m so grateful that I can speak even a little bit of my language, which I’m not fluent in, up here. Because, in this business, Native actors used to speak their lines in English and then the sound mixers would run them backwards to accomplish Native languages on camera.”
With the global spotlight on her, Gladstone has used the red carpet and media publicity topromote Indigenous designers, wear their clothes and jewelry and style herself in ways thathonor her heritage.
Lily Gladstone on Jan. 12.Monica Schipper/Getty
Monica Schipper/Getty
“It happens to a lot of kids, I think, especially Native boys leaving a community where long hair is celebrated [and then] just kind of getting teased for it… So I remember back then being like, everybody should just be they.” Plus, she added, “in most Native languages, most Indigenous languages, Blackfeet included, there are no gendered pronouns. There is no he/she, there’s only they.”
She will make her first-ever appearance at the Oscars
A first-time Oscar nomination is far from the only accolade Gladstone has received for her work as Mollie. In addition to the Golden Globe, she earnedCritics ChoiceandScreen Actors Guildnominations as well as multiple honors from critics groups.
This March will mark the rising star’s first attendance of the Academy Awards. When nominations were announced Jan. 23, Gladstone became the fourth Indigenous woman nominated in the leading actress category, after Merle Oberon (The Dark Angel), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) andYalitza Aparicio(Roma).
Joining Gladstone in the Best Actress category areAnnette BeningforNyad,Carey MulliganforMaestro,Emma StoneforPoor Thingsand Sandra Hüller forAnatomy of a Fall.
Killers, meanwhile, earned a total of 10 nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor for De Niro.
source: people.com
