Meet Karla Sofia Gascón, First Transgender Actor Nominated For Oscar

Karla Sofia Gascón, the Emilia Pérez-famed Spanish actor, is nominated for the Academy Awards 2025 in the Best Actress category. She made history as the first transgender person to be nominated for an Oscar for acting. In the highly-praised musical/crime drama film, Gascón plays the role of a lawyer-turned-drug lord seeking gender reassignment surgery. She has been lauded for artistically and emotionally portraying the complexities of gender, identity, and power.

Who Is Karla Sofia Gascón?

Gascón was born on March 31, 1972, in Alcobendas, Spain. She has pursued her childhood passion for acting since age 16 and earned an acting degree from Madrid's esteemed institution, ECAM. She worked in London on a TV show for Spanish-language learning and then in Milan voicing puppets for children's shows.

Gascón appeared in many Spanish daily soaps in Europe before moving to Mexico in 2009. She acted in many Mexican telenovelas and a few Spanish films here and there before moving on to the big screen. She then acted in numerous box-office hits like The Noble Family (2013),  and El Señor de los Cielos (2014).

In 2018, Gascón publically announced her transgender identity in an autobiography Karsia, Una historia extraordinaria ('Karsia: an Extraordinary Story') under her birth name, detailing her gender transitioning journey. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she expressed, “I’ve known since the age of 4. I would see other girls and say, ‘I want to be like that.’ Or I saw a girl on television and identified more with that character.” 

Gascón has earned a lot of praise for her character in Emilia Pérez. The film, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, also stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldaña. Gascón won the Best Actress prize at Cannes, becoming the first trans performer to claim a major award at the French festival. She is now set to make history again at the Oscars.

Gascón has won and been nominated for at least 19 acting awards for her outstanding performance in Emilia Pérez. Beyond her professional life, she is married to her teenage sweetheart, Marisa Gutiérrez, whom she met at the age of 19 at a nightclub in Spain. They have a 14-year-old daughter.