Karla Sofía Gascón has etched her name in history as the first openly transgender actress to receive an Academy Award nomination, earning a nod for Best Actress for her performance in the Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez at the 2025 Oscars.

In the groundbreaking role, Gascón plays a Mexican drug kingpin who undergoes gender-affirming surgery to begin a new life as a social worker. With the support of her family, the 52-year-old actress began her transition in 2018 and was cast in the transformative role in 2022.

Emilia Pérez leads the 2025 Oscar nominations with an impressive 13 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director (Jacques Audiard), and Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña.

The film has also been celebrated for its standout musical numbers, with original songs by Saldaña and Selena Gomez earning nominations.

Gascón's journey this awards season has been equally historic. She became the first transgender woman to win Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival — a title she shared with co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz — and marked another milestone as the first trans woman nominated for film acting at the Golden Globes.

Through her historic nomination, Gascón continues to advocate for transgender representation and understanding, emphasizing the significance of living authentically.

“It was completely crazy, I didn’t sleep all night,” she says. “What an illusion, what an honor, what love. I feel fulfilled, it is the culmination of nine months of promotion and two years of work,” she shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

Before Emilia Pérez, Gascón was best known for her performances in telenovelas, including Telemundo’s Emmy-winning El Señor de los Cielos and Netflix’s Rebelde. She also starred in Gaz Alazraki’s 2013 hit dark comedy Nosotros los Nobles for Warner Bros.