Lily Gladstone Learned of Her Oscars Nom by Watching Her Parents’ Reaction on FaceTime

Lily Gladstone was FaceTiming her parents when her best actress Oscar nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon was announced.

They were both up to watch the announcement, the actress, who portrays Mollie Burkhart in the Apple film, says.

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“My mom had the camera flipped around, and she was filming the TV,” Gladstone recalls to The Hollywood Reporter. “And I told her, ‘No mom, I don’t want to learn from like watching it through your phone. I wanna learn on your and dad’s faces.’ Sure enough, I could barely hear my name through the phone, but their reaction told me that it was a nod.”

With her nomination, Gladstone became the first Native American acting nominee in Oscars history. While she may be the first, the actress is certain she won’t be the last and argues that the honor isn’t just for her — it belongs to several people.

“It’s long overdue. I feel like it’s circumstantial that it’s me because there have been so many immense, incredible performances,” she says. “I stand on the shoulders of some unbelievable talent. Graham Greene and chief Dan George have been nominated for their performances by the Academy. Wes Studi has his honorary Oscar. I think of Tantoo Cardinal’s entire career, and how it’s like she should have been here. Sheila Tousey: there’s no actress alive that surpasses Sheila’s talent.”

Gladstone recalls watching all of these Indigenous actors growing up and insisted they shaped her, showing her what was possible for her in this career path.

“Once all my interviews are wrapped up, I’m going to make my way around Osage County and just gonna do my little protocols and give thanks for what this nation, these people, this land has given all of us by sharing this story,” she says.

Gladstone tells THR she wanted to be on the Osage reservation Tuesday in case the film was nominated, so she could celebrate with all the people who made the movie come to life.

“Really, this performance and story is theirs,” she tells THR. “It’s something that I carried and wouldn’t have been possible without the input of Mollie’s family and her community. So, it just felt like I should be as close to [Mollie’s family] the Kyle sisters, to Mollie, her family, her daughter, to the real people and to their legacies, to their descendants.”

While Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed for best actor, Killers of the Flower Moon received nine other nominations, including best picture, director for Martin Scorsese, supporting actor for Robert De Niro, cinematography, original song, costume design, original score, production design and editing.

The 2024 Oscars will air live on ABC coast to coast on Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in a new earlier time slot (4-7:30 p.m. PT/7-10:30 p.m. ET), with Jimmy Kimmel returning to host for a fourth time.

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