Zoe Saldaña is this year’s Critics Choice Award winner for best supporting actress in a movie.
For her work in Emilia Pérez, Saldaña accepted the trophy onstage at the Barker Hanger in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb. 7. “My husband went to the bathroom!” Saldaña began before pulling out a written speech and thanking the Critics’ Choice Association and her fellow nominees; she called the win an “incredible honor.”
“To my fellow nominees, the films this year and the work you’ve all done. It’s breathtaking,” she said. “I will forever be proud to be among you. Thank you to all of you. I can’t see you, but you f—ing rock.”
She added: “Whenever you receive a negative criticism for a role or a film, everyone says, ‘Don’t read the reviews.’ Then when you get the positive feedback, everyone says, ‘Did you read the reviews?’ But I appreciate the role of a critic. I do sometimes. I sometimes read the reviews and I internalize it, especially the really insightful and helpful feedback, like, ‘Her crying is really distracting. She’s in too many franchises,’ or my personal favorite, ‘She’s too blue.’ So I will listen to you all tonight, and I will accept this with pride. Thank you.”
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“To think that Emilia Pérez has been the little movie that could and has resonated with so many people has been an experience worth having,” Saldaña continued, going on to praise those she loves most: “Thank you to my family, especially my incredible husband and my nephew, who is with me tonight. You made me, me. So thank you, and to my boys, my greatest adventure and my toughest critics. I love you. My wish for the impact of this film on audiences in our world is that I hope we can all be curious and open hearted towards each other, because you never know when you’ll have the opportunity to be a hero, and someone else’s story. So, our world is too big and too beautiful to be any other way so stay curious, stay kind and stay blue, not too blue.”
After thanks to Netflix’s film team and her own family, Saldaña concluded: “My wish for the impact of this film on audiences and our world is that I hope we can all be curious and open-hearted towards each other. You never know when you have the opportunity to be a hero in someone else’s story. Our world is too big and too beautiful to be any other way. Stay curious, stay kind and stay blue — not too blue.”
Saldaña won the award over fellow nominees Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (“Nickel Boys”), Ariana Grande (“Wicked”) Margaret Qualley, (“The Substance”) and Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”).
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She stars in the musical crime drama as Rita Mora Castro, an exasperated lawyer who agrees to help a drug lord undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Saldaña has now won best supporting actress honors from the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards. Before the Oscars in March, she will compete in the same category at the BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
