- Following her win at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, March 2, Zoe Saldaña was asked by a reporter in the press room about Emilia Pérez being “really hurtful for us Mexicans”
- After apologizing to the reporter and other Mexicans who “felt offended” by the French-made Spanish-language film, which takes place in Mexico, Saldaña said, “We spoke and came from a place of love, and I will stand by that”
- Emilia Pérez notched Saldaña her first Oscar, for Best Supporting Actress, while the film also took home the award for Best Original Song, from a total of 13 nominations
Zoe Saldaña is standing by the messages in Emilia Pérez, but also open to continuing the conversation about how the movie “could’ve been done better.”
Following her Best Supporting Actress win at the 2025 Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2, the actress was asked by a reporter in the press room about some of the criticism surrounding the French-made film, which takes place in Mexico.
“A lot of things [have] been said about the movie, about trans people, about empowering women, but less has been said about Mexico, which is the heart of it,” the reporter told Saldaña, 46. “What would you say about the heart of this movie, but also the topic [that] is really hurtful for us Mexicans?”
“First of all, I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended [by Emilia Pérez],” Saldaña began her answer. “That was never our intention. We spoke and came from a place of love, and I will stand by that.”
The actress, who is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, went on to say that she doesn’t “share [the reporter’s] opinion,” in that “for me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico. We weren’t making a film about a country. We were making a film about four women.”
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“And these women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza,” she continued. “And these women are still very universal women that are struggling every day trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find their most authentic voices.”
Saldaña concluded, “So I will stand by that, but I’m also always open to sit down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters, and with love and respect, having a great conversation on how Emilia could’ve been done better. I have no problem. I welcome it. Thank you.”
Among the scrutiny faced by Emilia Pérez was its Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, 52, coming under fire for comments she made in interviews and old posts on X, focusing on Muslim culture, George Floyd, diversity and more. Gascón eventually deleted the posts, issued an apology then deactivated her X account.
Other commentators and social media users questioned the authenticity of French director Jacques Audiard and his actors’ portrayal of modern Mexico.
On Gaby Meza’s Hablando de Cine podcast in December 2024, Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez agreed with Meza when she criticized Selena Gomez’s performance in the film, saying Spanish was “neither her primary nor secondary language nor fifth,” per The Hollywood Reporter. (After Gomez, 32, responded to a TikTok clip of the interview by writing, “I’m sorry I did the best I could with the time I was given,” Derbez posted an apology to her.)
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Emilia Pérez is a Spanish-language musical crime drama that stars Saldaña as Rita, a lawyer tasked with helping the movie’s title character (Gascón) obtain a gender-affirming surgery to escape life as a cartel boss.
The movie also won Best Original Song at this year’s Oscars and was the most-nominated film of the evening, with 13 nods total. Also nominated in this year’s Best Supporting Actress category alongside Saldaña were Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) and Isabella Rossellini (Conclave).
Before beginning her acceptance speech at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, Saldaña shouted for her mom through tears before telling the crowd that her entire family was in attendance and that she is “floored by this honor,” her first Oscar.
After an emotional speech that honored her team and family (including husband Marco Perego and 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.”
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 97th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, which aired Sunday on ABC.
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