History was made at the 2024 Golden Globes.
Actress Lily Gladstone (who uses she/they pronouns) became the first Indigenous actress to ever receive the Best Actress in a Motion Picture prize from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – a win for representation, as well as for Gladstone themselves.
It’s worth noting that it took 81 years to reach this milestone, and Gladstone addressed that head-on. After an introduction given in Siksiká – the language spoken by the Blackfeet nation, of which they’re a part – they remarked upon the historic nature of the moment.
“I’m so grateful that I can speak even a little bit of my language, which I’m not fluent in, up here, because in this business, Native actors used to speak their lines in English and sound mixers would run them backwards to accomplish Native languages on camera,” Gladstone noted.
They were given the award for their performance in Martin Scorsese’s period crime drama, “Killers of the Flower Moon.” In it, Gladstone portrays Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman whose family murder is investigated in 1920s Oklahoma. The film also stars Leonardo DiCaprio.
Gladstone thanked both DiCaprio and Scorsese for their allyship in their speech, then added: “This is a historic win that doesn’t belong to just me — I’m holding it all with all of my beautiful sisters and standing on all of your shoulders.”
In addition to that victory, actress Ali Wong also marked a “first” with her win for Best Actress in a Limited Series for her performance on hit Netflix series “Beef.” She is the first actress of Asian descent to win the award. Her co-star, Steven Yeun, also won the Best Actor prize, and similarly made history in the process.
While accepting her statue, Wong acknowledged the importance of community as well, albeit in a different context. She thanked ex-husband Justin Hakuta – and in the process, made a small but salient point about women’s need for parenting help if they are to achieve their goals.
Wong noted in her speech, “It is because of you I’m able to be a working mother.”
