Lily Gladstone has made history as the first Indigenous woman to win Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama at the Golden Globes.
The “Killers of the Flower Moon” star took home the award on January 7 for her portrayal of real-life hero Mollie Burkhart in the Martin Scorsese epic.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” follows the serial killings of Osage Nation members in 1920s Oklahoma, led by organized crime mastermind William Hale (Robert De Niro) and his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), who was married to oil heiress Mollie (Gladstone). The murders lead Mollie to ask the newly formed FBI for help in solving the case.
Gladstone beat out fellow nominees Annette Bening (“Nyad”), Sandra Huller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Greta Lee (“Past Lives”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”), and Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”) to make history at the 2024 Golden Globes.
In addition to Gladstone’s acting win, “Killers of the Flower Moon” actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are nominated in their respective categories. Scorsese was also nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay with co-writer Eric Roth. Robbie Robertson was posthumously nominated for Best Score. The film is up for Best Picture, Drama as well.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” has already won big at the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review. The almost four-hour epic film was also among the Oscars shortlist for crafts categories as announced in December 2023.
Gladstone was celebrated in December 2023 at the IndieWire Honors with the Performance Award, where she championed diverse Indigenous storytelling.
“At the end of the production, we figured there were over 200 tribes represented in that production,” Gladstone said of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” adding, “It was immense. It made the set feel very safe. It made it feel very fun. That was the thing that stood out to me, and I think particularly stood out in a surprising and new way to a lot of our non-Native cast and people on set. In between these moments of intense trauma, people are just enjoying themselves and laughing and loving being together. It’s how it is.”
She continued, “It is incredible to have had [that experience] on ‘Reservation Dogs,’ it’s incredible to have had it on ‘Fancy Dance.’ It was almost unheard of to have it on [a] Scorsese [film]. It changes the work entirely, just knowing that you have community all around you. I think a lot of us, when we work outside of Native-created spaces, a lot of times when we’re there, we’re the only one. Our voices exist in community. It’s a lot to put on one person to be the voice for such a large body, of a very diverse group of people.”
