Zoe Saldaña Says Her Oscar Statue Is ‘Trans’ and ‘Goes By They/Them’ Pronouns: ‘We Have It in My Office and My Oscar Is Gender Fluid’

Zoe Saldaña told People on the red carpet for Disney and Pixar’s “Elio” that her Oscar statue, which she won earlier this year for her supporting turn in the Netflix musical drama “Emilia Perez,” is transgender. Asked where she keeps her trophy, the actor responded: “We have it in my office and my Oscar is gender fluid.” Saldaña added the statue is “trans” and “goes by they/them.”

Zoe Saldaña won the Oscar for supporting actress for playing Rita, an attorney who agrees to help a ruthless cartel leader undergo a sex change operation, in Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez.” The lauded performance swept the 2025 awards season, with Saldaña winning supporting actress prizes from the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards prior to her Oscar night triumph. Saldaña shared the best actress prize at Cannes with “Emilia Pérez” co-stars Karla Sofia Gascon, Selina Gomez and Adriana Paz.

At the Oscars, Saldaña faced off in the supporting actress category against Monica Barbaro, who played Joan Baez in “A Complete Unknown,” Isabella Rossellini for “Conclave,” Felicity Jones for “The Brutalist” and Ariana Grande for “Wicked.”

Saldaña follows in the footsteps of Jamie Lee Curtis, who also used they/them pronouns for her Oscar statue after winning best supporting actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Curtis explained she was using gender fluid pronouns for her Oscar in support of her daughter Ruby, Curtis’ daughter, who came out as transgender to their family in 2020.

“Thank you to the Academy, for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita, and talking about powerful women,” Saldaña said in her Oscar speech. “Jacques, you are a beloved character in my life. Thank you for taking the interest. Thank you for being so curious about these women to tell this story. To my cast and my crew of ‘Emilia Perez,’ I’m sharing this award with you.”

Saldaña then teared up as she spoke emotionally about her family and her grandmother, saying: “My grandmother came to this country in 1961 — I am a proud child of immigrant parents… I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last. I hope. The fact that I’m getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish — my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted, this is for my grandmother.”