"Emilia Perez" Star Gives Emotional Best Picture Acceptance Speech at Golden Globes: 'Light Always Wins Over Darkness'

01/05/2025 11:46 PM

The musical beat out 'Anora,' 'Challengers,' 'A Real Pain,' 'The Substance' and 'Wicked' for the big award

Emilia Pérez won a top honor at 2025's Golden Globe Awards ceremony.

The Spanish-language musical — which stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, and is helmed by French writer and director Jacques Audiard — was named best motion picture: comedy or musical on Sunday, Jan. 5, beating out Anora, Challengers, A Real Pain, The Substanceand Wicked. 

Taking the stage at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to accept the honor, Audiard handed the mic to Gascón, who made history as the first trans actress ever nominated for a Golden Globe. What followed was inspiring remarks for members of marginalized communities.

"The light always wins over darkness," Gascón said. "You can maybe put us in jail, you can beat us up, but you never can take away our soul, or our resistance, or our dignity."

"Raise your voice," the Spanish actress continued. "I am who I am; know who you [are]."

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Related: Zoe Saldaña Gets Sweet Shoutout for Her Epic Performance in Emilia Pérez Song 'El Mal' as It Wins at Golden Globes 2025

Emilia Pérez follows a high-powered lawyer named Rita (Saldaña), who is hired by a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) to help them fake their death and undergo gender-affirming procedures so that they can transition into life as a woman.

The film, now streaming on Netflix, has been applauded for it's bending the limits to the genre. "You have an action movie that's not an action movie, a drama that's not a drama, a comedy that's not a comedy," lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón told Tudum in November 2024. "It is such a great gift, and I'm so proud to be part of it."

Going into Sunday's show, Emilia Pérezled the nominations with 10 total including one each for Gascón, Saldaña and Gomez. The French film wound up taking home four total awards, including best motion picture (non-English language), best original song (for "El Mal") and a trophy for Saldaña in the supporting actress category.

Related: Emilia Pérez Star Karla Sofía Gascón Makes History for Trans Representation with Golden Globe Nomination

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The 82nd annual Golden Globes, which aired on CBS, was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser. As for the other films in the best motion picture: comedy or musical category, each received multiple nominations this year.

Anora, from indie writer-director Sean Baker, stars Mikey Madison as a sex worker experiencing a whirlwind Cinderella story. In addition to Madison's performance, the Golden Globes recognized supporting actor Yura Borisov and Baker in the directing and writing categories. 

The Luca Guadagnino-directed Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist as tennis players in a twisted love triangle, was also in contention for Zendaya's lead performance, best original score and Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Guadagnino's song "Compress / Repress."

Poland-set road trip comedy-drama A Real Pain, starring Golden Globe nominees Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, was also nominated for the original screenplay from Eisenberg, who directed the film. Culkin wound up walking away with a trophy for his performance.

Representing the horror-comedy genre this awards season is The Substance, which stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as different versions of the same character. Both actresses notched Golden Globe nominations, as did Coralie Fargeat for her writing and directing. Moore took home the honor.

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Jon M. Chu's musical adaptation Wicked: Part One, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the future witches of Oz, earned Globe recognition for those two performances in addition to its best comedy or musical distinction. As one of the box office success stories of 2024, it also earned a nod in the Globes' cinematic and box office achievement category along with Alien: Romulus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Deadpool & Wolverine, Gladiator II, Inside Out 2, Twisters and The Wild Robot.

It won that award, Chu using that opportunity to praise the film for its message of positivity and inclusion.

"In a time when pessimism and cynicism rule the planet right now, we can still make art that is a radical act of optimism, that is empowerment and that is joy," he said. "So when we discover that maybe the world isn't exactly the way we thought it was, and maybe [we all have] a little bit of Elphaba inside of us ... that maybe we have that courage and that strength to not give up but to rise up. Take the road off the yellow brick road and maybe discover we can fly."

See PEOPLE's full coverage of the 82nd annual Golden Globes ceremony, which was broadcast live from The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+.