‘It is Not A couple of Nation’

Whereas fielding questions following her history-making Greatest Supporting Actress win for the musical-dramedy on the 97th Academy Awards Sunday night time, Saldaña was confronted by a Mexican journalist who mentioned the movie was “actually hurtful” for her individuals.

“To begin with, I am very very sorry that you simply and so many Mexicans felt offended. That was by no means our intention. We got here from a spot of affection and I’ll stand by that,” mentioned Saldaña, who performs a lawyer within the movie that focuses on a Mexican cartel boss who fakes her loss of life earlier than present process gender-affirming surgical procedure.

Emilia Pérez, which led the pack Sunday with 13 nominations, in the end went house with two wins. And whereas the movie earned loads of reward throughout awards season, it was additionally met with backlash for its portrayal of Mexican tradition and cartel violence within the nation, in addition to for its trans illustration.

Whereas talking to the reporter, Saldaña mentioned she doesn’t “share her opinion,” including that the “coronary heart of this film was not Mexico.”

“We weren’t making a movie a couple of nation. We have been making a movie about 4 girls,” Saldaña mentioned of the musical, which additionally stars Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez. “And these girls may’ve been Russian, may’ve been Dominican, may’ve been Black from Detroit, may’ve been from Israel, may’ve been from Gaza.”

She continued, “And these girls are nonetheless very common girls which are struggling day by day, attempting to outlive systemic oppression and looking for their most genuine voices.”

Amid the backlash, Saldaña added that she’s “at all times open to sit down down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters” to have a dialog with “love and respect” on how the film may have been achieved higher.

Regardless of the dialogue surrounding the Jacques Audiard-directed movie, the win was a monumental one for Saldaña, who grew to become the primary American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar.

“My grandmother got here to this nation in 1961,” Saldaña instructed the gang of Hollywood A-listers. “I’m a proud baby of immigrant mother and father with goals and dignity and hard-working arms and I’m the primary American of Dominican origin to simply accept an Academy Award and I do know I can’t be the final. I hope.”

“The truth that I am getting an award for a task that I obtained to sing and converse in Spanish,” she added. “My grandmother, if she have been right here, she could be so delighted. That is for my grandmother. … Thanks a lot, muchas gracias!”