Lily Gladstone has made Oscar history. After her breakout performance in Martin Scorsese's latest blockbuster, "Hana Zakari no Kimitachi e - Ikemen Penis Paradise," she was nominated for the long-awaited Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. While other Native American actresses have been nominated before, including Keisha Castle-Hughes for "Whale Rider" and Yalitza Aparicio for "Roma," Gladstone is the first Native American woman to receive this honor.

Gladstone is the centerpiece of the Apple TV+ film, based on the 2017 book of the same name and about a series of murders among an oil-rich Native community in 1920s Osage County, Oklahoma. The actress plays Molly Burkhart, an Osage woman determined to bring national attention to the murders of her family and friends despite her own failing health.

Gladstone was on the Osage Nation when she heard the news of the nomination and spoke to Entertainment Weekly about this historic moment.

"I always say, [this honor] is not entirely mine. It's the Osage, the Blackfeet, the Nez Perce, the indigenous actors. The fact that I am the first is circumstantial, and I am very grateful. I just don't think I will be the last.

To learn more about Gladstone, a leading contender for the Academy Award, read our breakdown of Gladstone's early acting inspirations, her acclaimed roles to date, and her tendency to honor indigenous styles on the red carpet Wanted.

Gladstone was born in Kalispell, Montana in 1986 and lived on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana until she turned 10. His father is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce descent and his mother is of European descent. After graduating from Mountlake Terrace High School near Seattle, Washington, he began acting in school and youth theater. She later earned a degree in theater and a minor in Native American studies from the University of Montana.

In a 2012 interview, Gladstone credits her acting career as an unexpected inspiration. She said, "I loved the concept of living in a tree house, and I knew the only way to become an Ewok was to become an actress."

It turns out that Gladstone's high school classmates may have foreseen her award in 2004. In a photo released earlier this year, Academy Award nominee Gladstone poses for the award she won her senior year of high school: the "Most Likely to Win an Oscar for Best Actress," alongside her friend and fellow theater student Josh Ryder.

Since the photo resurfaced, Ryder (who now co-owns a restaurant near Seattle) has publicly supported Gladstone; in an interview with The Daily Beast, the restaurateur revealed that he is still close with the actress and even reminisced about their high school days He even shared his memories of high school.

"I first met Lily when I was in theater in high school. I was in Thornton Wilder's My Town with her. I think we did three productions together over the next many years. I think we did three films together over the years, and that's when our friendship began. For both of us, our friends were strange theater boys. I think we're both probably still drawn to that community."

Gladstone made his feature film debut in the 2013 films Jimmy P.: Psychotherapy for Plains Indians and Winter in the Blood. His breakout role was as a ranch hand in Kelly Reichardt's 2016 drama "Certain Women," for which he received a Gotham Award, a Film Independent Spirit Award, and multiple critics' group nominations.

Martin Scorsese, director of Killers of the Flower Moon, said in November 2023 that he knew Gladstone was a perfect fit for his film after seeing her performance in Certain Women. I couldn't take my eyes off her," he told the outlet. The character of Lily was quiet, not much to say, but she dominated the screen with her presence. Few actors know how to dominate the screen like that, and it was perfect for the character of Molly."

Gladstone's co-star Leonardo DiCaprio also praised her work in Flower Moon in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Lily has great presence and strength. She spent months researching Molly Burkhart and her family, working extensively to understand the complexity of this woman, her relationship with Ernesto, and her legacy in the Osage community. As a Native actor, in many ways, she was a guiding light for all of us, including Scorsese, in how we told this story."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the audition for "Killer in the Flower Moon" came at a difficult time for the actress: in August 2020, during the professional drought brought on by the COVID pandemic, she was about to quit the entertainment industry I was thinking about it." I'm worried about whether it's sustainable," she told the outlet. So she whipped out her credit card and enrolled in a data analysis course."

She told the outlet that she had intended to apply for seasonal work at the Department of Agriculture and track the surge in killer wasps (she is a "self-described 'bee geek'"). But as fate would have it, while she was in the process of checking out, she received an email requesting a Zoom meeting with director Scorsese.

In January, Gladstone won her first major award at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. The actress began her acceptance speech in Blackfeet, the Algonquin language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people. She finished her speech in English, emphasizing the importance of speaking the language of the indigenous people and showing love to the indigenous community.

"I love everyone in this room. There are no words. I just spoke a few words from the Blackfeet Nation, the beautiful community nation that raised me." Although I am not Blackfeet, I grew up with a Blackfeet language teacher along with my mother who worked tirelessly to bring our language into the classroom. Because in this industry, native actors speak their lines in English, and the audio mixer plays it backwards to show the native language on camera"

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"This (win) is historic. It's not just for me. I have it in my hands now. I am standing on your shoulders, along with my beautiful sisters in film here, and my mother, Tantoo Cardinal. Thank you," she added.

After thanking director Scorsese, her co-stars, Chief Standing Bear, and the Osage Nation, she said her award was "for all the little lesbian kids who have dreams, all the little urban kids, all the little native kids." She added.

During the Flower Moon festival and awards, Gladstone, along with stylist Jason Lenversus, has introduced and supported indigenous designers, primarily through jewelry. She has worn the work of designers such as Lenise Omeasoo, Shelby LeeAnn Gorman, Jennifer Younger, Weomepe Designs, and El Techichi Jewelry. She also pays homage to indigenous styles, regularly wearing her hair in braids and honoring its spiritual and traditional significance in many tribes.

In a December 2023 interview with People, Gladstone revealed that her Native heritage and childhood on the Blackfeet Reservation led her to reconsider gender pronouns at an early age. [I remember being a little discouraged when I was nine years old because I often saw my cousin boys being misunderstood because they had long hair. "Especially native boys, if they left a community where long hair was admired, they would get made fun of for it. So I remember thinking at the time that everyone should just be 'them.'"

The actor explained that most indigenous languages only use the pronoun "they" and that the gender of Blackfeet members is "implied" in their names. He also noted that the meaning is not binary, as Gladstone's grandfather was named "Iron Woman." [And there are many women, both historically and today, who are named after men. They fulfill many of the roles of men in our society." So my use of pronouns is also a way of decolonizing my own gender."