'It's thrilling': Native American actresses on Lily Gladstone's historic Oscar nomination

When Angela Startz was a girl, she would imagine what it would be like to accept one of the iconic golden statuettes at the Oscars.

“When I was a kid and started performing, I definitely practiced my Oscar-winning speech, like full-on hairbrush in front of the mirror, coming up with what I would say and who I would thank,” said the Oklahoma City actor, dancer and podcaster.

“I think all of us that are involved in performing have done that, because you grow up watching the Academy Awards and having that dream. Now, one of our relatives is actually going to be there. It’s thrilling.”

For many Native American actresses like Startz, who is Inupiaq, Tuesday’s reveal of the 2024 Oscar nominations brought a milestone moment worth celebrating: For her powerhouse lead turn in the made-in-Oklahoma epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Lily Gladstone became the first Native American to be nominated for best actress in the nearly 100-year history of the Academy Awards.

“It happens to be that I’m carrying this honor right now … (but) it’s all so long overdue. It’s a real moment of restoration, placing Indigenous talent in these roles, spotlighting their humanity," Gladstone told The Associated Press shortly after her historic Oscar nomination was announced.

"I think it is shattering a lot of stereotypes people have about Indigenous women, particularly Native American women.”

Gladstone's trailblazing nod is among the 10 nominations "Killers of the Flower Moon" received for this year's Academy Awards, which will take place Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and air live on ABC.

What awards has Lily Gladstone won so far for 'Killers of the Flower Moon?'

Filmed in and around Osage County in 2021, Martin Scorsese's historic epic "Killers of the Flower Moon" focuses on a grim and often-overlooked chapter of Oklahoma history: The 1920s "Reign of Terror," a series of ruthless slayings of oil-rich Osage Nation citizens.

The largest movie production ever undertaken in the Sooner State, "Killers of the Flower Moon" is adapted from David Grann's 2017 best-selling book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI."

"Killers of the Flower Moon" reunited Scorsese with two of his frequent collaborators who had never been in one of his feature films together: two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro ("Raging Bull," "The Godfather: Part II"), who is nominated for best supporting actor for "Killers of the Flower Moon," and Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Revenant"), who was left out of this year's best actor contest.

But Gladstone, who is NiMíiPuu, or Nez Perce, and Siksikaitsitapi, or Blackfeet, has proven the film's awards favorite for her mesmerizing portrayal of Mollie Kyle Burkhart, a real-life Osage woman who was marked for death, along with her family, in the Osage Reign of Terror. DiCaprio plays her traitorous husband, Ernest Burkhart, who gets caught between his love for his wife and the deadly schemes of his greedy uncle, William K. Hale (De Niro).

"Her face, her eyes, you can sense the conflict in her love for this man in knowing what he's doing. ... Native women, we have to be so strong, and she's so strong — and we feel that strength," said Startz, the producer and co-host of the Reel Indigenous Podcast.

"But we also get that sense from her of that devastating loss."

Earlier this month, Gladstone became the first Indigenous performer to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, dedicating the breakthrough victory to "every rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream."

The National Board of Review named Gladstone best actress at its January gala in New York, where "Killers of the Flower Moon" received the best film award and Scorsese was named best director.

Although she was snubbed when the BAFTA Awards nominations were announced, Gladstone also is nominated for best actress at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will stream live globally on Netflix at 7 p.m. Feb. 24.

The best actress category has become one of the most closely watched contests of this year's Academy Awards. It's expected to be a close competition between Gladstone and "Poor Things" star Emma Stone, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, as well as the Critics Choice Awards trophy for best actress.

Who are the past Indigenous performers to be nominated for best actress Oscars?

Gladstone's Oscar nomination makes her the first Native American and just the fourth Indigenous performer to be nominated for best actress.

A British performer born in India, Merle Oberon, who is believed to have been of Māori and South Asian lineage, was nominated for best actress in 1935's “The Dark Angel." Born in Australia and raised in New Zealand, Māori performer Keisha Castle-Hughes broke out with her best actress-nominated turn in 2002's “Whale Rider.” An Indigenous Mexican schoolteacher-turned-actor Yalitza Aparicio earned her best actress nod for her film debut in 2018's “Roma."

"I am just elated for Lily. She deserves it. She deserves the Oscar, as far as I'm concerned, because she so correctly portrayed a Native woman and an Osage woman in that film," said Claremore actress and singer Lea McCormick, an enrolled Muscogee Nation citizen.

"I hope that the reason she was nominated is because they saw how incredible she is, and not because, 'Hey, this is an opportunity to make history.' In my opinion, Native actresses should have been nominated 50 years ago. ... She's an incredible actress, as well as an incredible person."

How is Lily Gladstone representing Oklahoma and Native America on the way to the Oscars?

Although she was born and raised on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, Gladstone, 37, has spent much of the past five years working on film and television projects in the Sooner State.

"I come to Oklahoma for work pretty often, and I come to Oklahoma just to see people pretty often now, after spending so long making such incredible films here," Gladstone told The Oklahoman in an exclusive interview during the 2023 deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City.

"If you're representing a community that you're not from, I would think it would be a prudent thing to spend a little bit of time with the people that you're representing. ... It'll make a better film, but also makes for a better life. So, Oklahoma's become very, very dear to me." 

Ahead of Tuesday's Oscars nominations announcement, Gladstone and Tulsa-based moviemaker and "Reservation Dogs" showrunner Sterlin Harjo caught the Oklahoma Red Dirt band Turnpike Troubadours in concert at OKC's Paycom Center.

Gladstone made sure she was in Oklahoma when the Academy Awards nominations were unveiled.

“I decided that I wanted to be on the Osage reservation, should this news come in today,” Gladstone told The AP Tuesday. “I wanted to be as close to Mollie Kyle and her family as I could be. So I’m here in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Once things wrap up, I think I’m gonna load up and drive out to Fairfax and Gray Horse and pay my respects there.”

Along with making "Killers of the Flower Moon" here, Gladstone recently worked in Oklahoma on writer-director Erica Tremblay's award-winning independent movie "Fancy Dance" and as a guest star on Harjo's acclaimed series "Reservation Dogs."

"I've been lucky enough to watch her work in person on set (on 'Reservation Dogs'), and she's very inspirational," McCormick said. "I'm so excited for her and so happy for her, and I hope that she continues to grace us on screen."

Also a fashion designer who said Gladstone owns a bag from her Heruse tos Handmade Handbags line, McCormick praised Gladstone for accessorizing her classy awards show gowns with jewelry from Native designers, helping to draw attention to other Indigenous artists' work.

After getting to see Gladstone act up close as a background performer on "Fancy Dance," Startz said she's eager to root for the best actress contender during the Academy Awards.

"You just can't take your eyes off of her ... She just has that quality about her," Startz said. "And her campaign during this awards season has been stellar: She has been patient. She has been intelligent in her answers. She brings this inclusion to so many of these interviews that have been kind of awkward.

"We just couldn't ask for a better role model for our young performers that can see her and go, 'OK, I can do it.'"

96th Academy Awards

The 2024 Academy Awards will take place Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and be televised live on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the Oscars for the fourth time, but the performers and presenters for this year's ceremony have not yet been announced.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lily Gladstone's historic Oscar nomination thrills Native actresses