Zoe Saldaña Shouts for Her Mom Through Tears as She Wins First Oscar: 'I Am Floored by This Honor'

Mar. 15, 2025

Zoe Saldañahas anAcademy Awardto add to her trophy shelf!

After an emotional speech that honored her team and family (including husbandMarco Peregoand his “beautiful hair”), Saldaña said, “I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award and I know I will not be the last. I hope.”

Also nominated in this year’s Best Supporting Actress category wereMonica Barbaro(A Complete Unknown),Ariana Grande(Wicked),Felicity Jones(The Brutalist) andIsabella Rossellini(Conclave).

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Kevin Winter/Getty

Saldaña entered the Academy Awards as the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress after she won at theGolden Globe Awards,Critics Choice Awards,BAFTA AwardsandSAG Awards.

InEmilia Pérez, a Spanish-language musical and crime drama, the actress portrays Rita, a lawyer who is tasked with helping the movie’s title character obtain a gender-affirming surgery to escape life as a cartel boss.

Zoe Saldaña inEmilia Pérez(2024).Shanna Besson/PAGE 114

Shanna Besson/PAGE 114

Saldaña said during her acceptance speech for her BAFTA Award on Feb. 16 that she was dedicating the accolades she has received for her roleto her nephew Eli.

“He is the reason, they are the reason, I signed up to do this film in the first place,” she said. “So as a proud aunt of a trans life, I will always stand with my community of trans people.”

Monica Barbaro inA Complete Unknown(2024).Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Barbaro, 34, played folk-music legendJoan Baezin theBob DylanbiopicA Complete UnknownalongsideTimothée Chalametas Dylan, 83, andEdward Norton, who portrayedPete Seeger.

The other two actors are also nominated for their performances at the Oscars. In total,A Complete Unknownreceived eight nods, including for Best Picture.

“The probability of even getting to [act] for a living is just really low, and so I constantly just try to remind myself of that,” Barbarotold PEOPLE recentlyof her awards-season nominations. “I haven’t wrapped my head around it.”

Ariana Grande inWicked(2024).Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

Grande andWickedstorm into the Oscars with 10 nominations total, tied withThe Brutalistfor second-most (Emilia Pérez’s 13 top the list this year). Grande also received nods for her role as Glinda at the BAFTAs, Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes and SAG Awards this winter.While Grande, 31, is better known for her pop-music career than acting for the screen in recent years, she said in a December 2024 interview withVarietythat shedoes not predict she will release new music or tour again “anytime soon.”

“The next few years, hopefully we’ll be exploring different forms of art, and I think acting is feeling like home right now,” she added.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Felicity Jones inThe Brutalist(2024).Courtesy of A24

Courtesy of A24

Jones, 41, returns to the Oscars as a nominee forThe Brutalist, in which she portrays Erzsébet Tóth, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who joins her husband László (Adrien Brody) in the United States in the 1950s.

She was previously nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 2015 Oscars forThe Theory of Everything, butJulianne Moorewon that year for her role inStill Alice.

“It’s just been a fantastic celebration of the film. I mean, we never quite expected the reception that we have had,” Jones recently told PEOPLE ofThe Brutalist’s success. “You don’t get this many opportunities. So I am trying to enjoy every minute of it.”

Isabella Rossellini inConclave(2024).Courtesy of Focus Features

Courtesy of Focus Features

Rossellini, 72, has been acting since the 1970s, but her nomination for theEdward Berger-directed movieConclavemarks her first Academy Award nomination.

The actress portrays Sister Agnes, a Roman Catholic nun who works for church officials in Rome’s Vatican City, inConclave, which follows a group of cardinals as they elect a new pope, campaign for themselves to lead the church and jockey for political leverage over rivals within the papal conclave. Rossellini’s costarRalph Fienneswas also nominated for his lead role as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence.

Rossellini was additionally recognized this season with nods in the best supporting actress categories at the Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA Awards.

source: people.com