Transgender Emilia Perez star Karla Sofía Gascón has scored a BAFTA nomination for lead actress — another bellwether of an increasingly likely Academy Award nomination for the breakout star who is a man who identifies as a woman.
On Wednesday, Karla Sofía Gascón earned a BAFTA nod for lead actress for Netflix’s Emilia Perez, a transgender-narco musical in which Gascón plays a drug boss who undergoes a sex-change operation to become a “woman.” The movie received a total of 11 nominations for the U.K.’s biggest movie awards, just behind the 12 received by another awards-season favorite, Conclave.
Gascón’s BAFTA nod marks the first time an openly transgender performer has received a nomination from the British Academy. The ceremony is set for February 16 at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
In addition to the BAFTA nod, Gascón is also up for a Screen…
