At the 97th Academy Awards, Zoe Saldana has won her first Oscar for her performance in director Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez. She won in the Best Supporting Actress Oscar category, beating fellow nominees Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones in The Brutalist, and Isabella Rossellini for Conclave. This recognition comes after Saldana's wins at the Golden Globes, the BAFTA Film Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also shared a best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival alongside fellow nominees, her Emilia Perez co-stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Karla Sofia Gascon.

In her Oscar acceptance speech, Saldana said, "I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award and I will not be the last. The fact that I got an Oscar for a role in which I got to speak and sing in Spanish is beautiful. I dedicate this award to my grandmother."

Interestingly, in her acceptance speech, Saldana did not mention Karla Sofía Gascon, who faced backlash after the resurfacing of her controversial tweets, including one about diversity at the Academy Awards.

Emilia Perez leads the list of Oscar nominations with 13 nominations this year, including best picture and best actress (Gascon).