Zoe Saldaña became emotional as she delivered her acceptance speech after winning the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for playing Rita Mora Castro in Emilia Pérez
Zoe Saldaña was cut off while delivering an expletive laden acceptance speech after becoming overcome after winning at the 2025 BAFTAs.
The 46-year-old American scooped the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for playing Rita Mora Castro in the controversial musical Emilia Pérez. She saw off competition from fellow stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Felicity Jones and Isabella Rossellini.
The Marvel star appeared shocked as she took to the stage to deliver her speech. During her speech, she became emotional, her voice shaking, and she dropped a number of swear words in between thanking her co-stars and crew that she worked with on the film.
She said: “I was told not to cry by my children, so I’ll try. This is so validating and a true honour, because the very few times that I went for a part with a British accent or dialect coach, I was like, ‘This is not going to happen to you.’ Even though I have a lot of British friends, I find myself repeating all their phrases, and I know that I’m a pain in the a***.”
She continued, “Bafta thank you, this was a creative challenge of a lifetime. How do you begin to even approach a film that not just defies categorisation, and you start by taking the leap with Jacques Audiard. I want to thank my wonderful cast… Films are supposed to change hearts and challenge minds and i hope i did something like this. voices need to be heard, just not my English accent.”
Zoe went on: “I’m dedicating all of these awards and the film Emilia Pérez to my nephew, Eli. He is the reason - they are the reason - I signed up to do this film in the first place,” she said. “So as the proud aunt of a trans life, I will always stand with my community of trans people.”
As her long-list of thanks went on, she began to cry as she thanked her mother, her husband and her children. As the speech went on, she was faced with a count down, leading her to say: “Oh my god I’m getting a countdown. F*** f*** f***!"
Coverage of the awards did not air her f-bomb fuelled conclusion and showed her instead just walking away from the stage - with her award proudly in her hand. Earlier in the night, Emilia Pérez won the Best Film Not in the English Language award. Director Jacques Audiard took to the stage to accept the gong where he paid tribute to his cast and crew.
He said: “Above all, I would like to thank all the wonderful artists who brought this film to life and who are here with us tonight... My dear Zoe, my dear Selena, Giorgini, Paul, Juliet, Camille, Clement, Julia and your team, but also you, my dear Karla Sofia, that I kiss. I’m deeply proud of what we achieved together. Long live Emilia Pérez!”
The film has been hit with a number of scandals since it’s release last year - first drawing scorn from performers in Mexico who slammed the filmmakers for failing to hire Mexican talent to play the characters. And then lead star Karla Sofia sparked a vicious backlash when historic tweets came back to haunt her.
She has removed herself from the awards circuit as she acknowledged her scandal risked overshadowing the success of the film. She is still nominated for an Oscar next month - but is not expected to attend the ceremony.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
