Oscars: Karla Sofía Gascón Will Be Campaigned as Lead Actress — First Trans Acting Nominee?

Variety’s Clayton Davis is reporting that Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Perez”) will officially be campaigned as Lead Actress for the Oscars. Gascón’s co-stars, Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana, will be pushed in the Supporting Actress category. All three shared the Best Actress prize at Cannes.

It’s quite obvious what Netflix is doing here; they’re using the juicy narrative of Gascón as the potential first trans acting nominee, even though this could technically qualify as “category fraud.” Saldana is the clear lead in “Emilia Perez” but she in no way shape or form has been talked about as much as Gascón who, mind you, does give the best performance in the film.

In “Emilia Perez,” Saldana’s Rita, a Mexico City attorney, is hired to make Gascón’s druglord “disappear” from the crime world by having him transition into a woman. Saldana is featured in way more scenes than Gascón, so it’s quite silly to have her downgraded by Netflix to supporting actress.

Regardless, these are the usual politics that come into play when it comes to Oscar maneuvering and Gascón now very much stands a chance to win the Lead Actress category. This is why today’s news is a big deal.

What this also means is that Saldana also stands a good chance to win Supporting Actress, which has an incredibly weak field this year. The only other actress that might stand in her way is Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”) who got great notices out of Telluride.

So, who are Gascón’s fiercest competitors for Oscar gold? The biggest competition will be coming from Mikey Madison who gives an all-timer performance in “Anora” — she’s an absolute force to be reckoned with in the film. Nicole Kidman gives one of the best performances of her career in “Babygirl.” It’s practically mandatory to give Angeline Jolie a nomination for her Oscar-baity and “transformative” work in “Maria.” Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) absolutely deserves to sneak in there as well.

This is how Gold Derby’s experts have the race shaping up right now …

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