She was the category’s frontrunner, but Zoe Saldaña didn’t breathe easy until her name was announced. Although ‘Emilia Pérez’ became the most-nominated non-English language film in Oscar history months ago, controversies have continually surrounded it, taking a toll. Its tally after these 2025 Oscars stands at 2 wins from 13 nominations. Last-minute bets on some of her fellow nominees kept Saldaña on edge until the end, but the storm has passed, and the Dominican actress can now celebrate her award.

It’s hard not to rejoice in Zoe Saldaña’s success. The actress hadn’t received any nominations of this caliber until now, but her career has been intertwined with the general public. She has seamlessly transitioned from one major franchise to another, regardless of color. Saldaña has played leading roles in sagas like ‘Avatar’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ where she was either blue or green; she portrayed Uhura in the latest ‘Star Trek’ adaptations and was even the often-overlooked Anamaria in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.’ There’s something satisfying about seeing someone who doesn’t approach cinema from an elitist or pretentious perspective get rewarded.

‘Emilia Pérez’, the most controversial film of the 2025 Oscars

Her journey with ‘Emilia Pérez’ has been quite an odyssey. Jacques Audiard’s film tells the story of a cartel boss who decides to change both gender and life. Saldaña plays the lawyer who knows his secret and facilitates his operation and new identity. While the premise isn’t bad, the film quickly steps from one issue to another. To begin with, it’s the first Spanish-language film that requires subtitles for Spanish speakers. Most of the cast seems unable to pronounce a single word in the language they were filming in.

Furthermore, the director and crew chose to set the film in Mexico without ever having set foot in the country. As a result, the movie addresses issues like drug trafficking and disappearances without any sensitivity. On top of that, when the Mexican audience turned against them, Audiard couldn’t come up with anything better than to say that “Spanish is a language of emerging, developing countries, of modest people, of the poor, and of migrants.” And if all this weren’t enough, the lead actress, Spain’s Karla Sofía Gascón, had all kinds of racist tweets leaked, turning her co-stars and Netflix against her.

Zoe Saldaña has had a happy ending, especially since she announced at the last minute that she had made peace with Karla Sofía Gascón and wanted them all to be together at the Oscars. “I think it’s important that we close this episode as a team, just as it all started. After that, each person can walk the path they choose. If it’s one of redemption, then redemption,” she declared. A brave decision that didn’t cost her and speaks to the heart of an actress now cemented in Hollywood’s history.

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