The Spanish actress talks about the role that’s winning her Oscar buzz, and how her own transition influenced the film

Karla Sofía Gascón’s performance in “Emilia Pérez” as a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirmation surgery to become a woman has brought her global acclaim and set Gascón on a path that may make her the first openly transgender actor ever nominated for an Oscar.

If Karla Sofía Gascón nabs an Oscar nomination for Emilia Pérez—and most award predictions suspect she will—she will become the first ever trans woman nominated for Best Actress. And she’ll absolutely deserve it for her captivating,

Karla Sofía Gascón is one of the stars of the new Netflix movie Emilia Peré z. The movie, which also features big names like Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña is widely considered a front-runner for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, with Gascón expected to make history with a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Netflix’s musical crime movie ‘Emilia Pérez’ explores the internal and external lives of Manitas Del Monte in vibrant, vivid detail. The drug cartel leader becomes Emilia Pérez after undergoing gender affirmation surgery.

The new film Emilia Pérez follows a Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) who was assigned male at birth but transitions to become her true self as a woman.