Oscar favorite
First Indigenous actress to win a Golden Globe. Who is Lily Gladstone?
Lily Gladstone with her trophy at the Golden Globes 2024
© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Lily Gladstone wanted to give up acting. Then Martin Scorsese called. Now the “Killers of the Flower Moon” actress has won a Golden Globe – as the first woman with indigenous roots.
In Martin Scorsese’s drama “Killers of the Flower Moon”, his favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio became a supporting character for a change because an actress outshone him: Lily Gladstone.
The 37-year-old begins her acceptance speech at this year’s Golden Globes in the language of the indigenous Blackfeet community in which she grew up – on her father’s side, she is a direct descendant of the Blackfeet chief Red Crow. “I’m so grateful that I can speak a few words up here in my language, which I don’t speak fluently,” she says. She thanks her mother, who is shown in the audience. Although she is not Blackfeet, she has but worked to ensure that Gladstone had a Blackfeet language teacher as a child.
In “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Gladstone plays Mollie Burkhart, a wealthy woman from the indigenous Osage Nation who suddenly became rich in 1897 when oil was discovered on her land in Oklahoma. Like many other Osage women, Mollie Burkhart marries a penniless white man. Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) is good-looking, but he’s not the smartest.
Pictures from the gala
Golden Globes 2024: Who didn’t receive their award themselves and which series scored points
Of course, he has nothing against a life of wealth and doesn’t question what medicine is in the ampoules that he gives his wife to combat her diabetes on behalf of his nasty uncle William Hale (played by Robert De Niro). He gradually poisons her with the injections, she becomes increasingly weaker, gets deep circles under her eyes and can barely get out of bed. The story on which this epic is based is true: in the early to mid-1920s, mysterious murders of Osage members occurred in order to enrich themselves with their inheritance and property rights.
Lily Gladstone: Smaller role, but far from a breakthrough
Lily Gladstone’s portrayal of a woman between suffering and unshakable pride was so impressive that she deservedly received the Golden Globe for Best Actress. The competition was fierce: Also nominated for the award were Annette Bening (“Nyad”), Sandra Hülser (“Anatomy of a Case”), Greta Lee (“Past Lives”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) and Cailee Spaeny ( “Priscilla”).
Lily Gladstone was born in 1986 in the US state of Montana, where she also grew up. She initially studied theater and appeared on theater stages across the country. Her first role was in the French indie film “Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian)” in 2013, and three years later she starred in “Certain Women” alongside Kristen Stewart and Michelle Williams. She has appeared in series such as “Billions” and also in “Reservation Dogs”, which is about four indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma.
At that time, Gladstone was still living with her parents, wanted to give up acting as her main source of income, and thought that as a Native American there was no place for her in Hollywood anyway. Then Martin Scorsese called to cast her as Mollie Burkhart. Two casting directors independently recommended Gladstone for the role. A giant leap. “My life will never be the same again,” she said in the Vogue interview. And the dream rise continues. Lily Gladstone is now considered an Oscar favorite.
Source used: British Vogue