Who is Karla Sofía Gascón, the first transgender actress nominated for an Oscar for her role in “Emilia Pérez”?

She has already entered the History of the Seventh Art. After being awarded with her partners at Cannes and receiving a nomination for the Golden Globes last January, the Spaniard Karla Sofía Gascón, 52, became this Thursday the first transgender actress nominated for the Oscars for her performance in the musical Emilia Perez by Jacques Audiard.

On screen, she plays Juan “Manitas” del Monte, a Mexican drug trafficker who hires a lawyer to help him with his gender transition. A role that echoes his own journey. Until 2018, his identity card was in the name of actor Carlos Gascón, with numerous television roles to his credit in his country of birth and then in Mexico.

Initially, Jacques Audiard thought of having Juan play a man and Emilia a woman. It was after spotting this strong personality during a videoconference casting that he was convinced to give her the role of Emilia, after her transition. Despite the French director's initial reluctance, the actress insisted on playing the character when she was still a man, with the help of an impressive makeup job.

“If I have a message to send, what we trans people are like everyone else“, said the actress during the presentation of the film on the Croisette. “Whether we're LGBT or whatever you want, we're normal people. And we can dedicate ourselves to the careers we choose, whether it’s teaching or acting. We made a choice for our body which belongs to us. We have the right to dispose of it.”

She filed a complaint against Marion Maréchal

On the evening of her performance prize, shared with her three female partners, Karla Sofía Gascón was the subject of a virulent tweet from Marion Maréchal. “It is therefore a man who receives the prize for… female interpretation at Cannes. Progress for the left is the erasure of women and mothers“, protested the head of the Reconquest list in the European elections on the X network.

In the wake of several LGBTQ+ associations, the actress was going to file a complaint for “sexist outrage due to one's gender identity“against Marine Le Pen's niece.”We need to put an end to this kind of talk.“, she declared then in a press release. A fight that she is now continuing on the other side of the Atlantic, where Emilia Perez was purchased by Netflix.

I am who I am, not who you want me to be

Karla Sofía Gascón during her speech at the Golden Globes

In early January, Karla Sofía Gascón became the first transgender actress nominated for the Golden Globes. On the red carpet, she appeared radiant alongside Marisa Gutiérrez, her wife whom she met at the age of 19 and with whom she is raising their 14-year-old daughter. While voters preferred Demi Moore in The SubstanceJacques Audiard left him the microphone in front of all the Hollywood elite after winning the trophy for best musical film.

“You may put us in prison, you may beat us, but you will never be able to take away our soul, our existence and our identity!“, she said, in an outfit inspired by Buddhist colors. “Freedom ! I am who I am, not who you want me to be“Very political comments, at the time Donald Trump's return to the White House aroused concern among trans people.

In an interview given to Hollywood Reporter A few days ago, Karla Sofía Gascón said she knew she was a woman from the age of 4. “I saw other little girls and told myself I wanted to be like her. Or I was watching a girl on television and it was her character that I identified with.“Coming from a modest background, it will take her years to come to terms with her identity.

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The actress also responds to attacks from part of the LGBT community, Internet users but also the GLAAD association judging the film retrograde in the representation of trans people. “Being LGBT doesn't make you less stupid!“, she says. “The reality is in the streets. These are the people who come up to me in the street to thank me. They are waiting for me to be nominated (at the Oscars – editor’s note) and if I get the prize they will jump for joy.”