On the night the Golden Globes were handed out, it was clear that the battle for the Oscar for best actress would be defined by who took the award in the best drama category, Lily Gladstone, for Martin’s new masterpiece Scorsese, Los asesinos de la luna, and who obtained it in the comedy or musical, Emma Stone, for her work in Pobres criaturas. With just days to go until it’s known who will win the golden statuette, Gladstone has a slight advantage, simply because he won the Screen Actors Guild award, which is voted on by many of the same people who vote at the Oscars. In her favor there is also historical recognition, since the Montana native is the daughter of a Native American from the Piegan Blackfeet nation, where she was raised, and a woman of European origin. She was the first Native American actress to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress, and if she wins Sunday, she would set the same record with the Academy Award.
How important was the collaboration with the Osage Nation for your work to authentically reflect that culture?
It was essential. I regret that it has not been the rule in the films that have preceded us all these years. Most of the time people don’t understand that there are 574 nationally recognized Native Nations in the United States. We are not a monolith nor do we have a homogenous view. I speak a little of the Blackfeet language, which I learned in childhood. I grew up on my father’s reservation. But the Osage language is totally foreign to me. Although you may get the impression that we Native American actors speak all languages, this is not the case. I had to learn everything and I tried to be extremely respectful.
How was this collaboration?
The wonderful thing about our film is that, long before filming began, those involved in the project built a great relationship with the Osage community. The Gray Horse community invited Martin Scorsese to a meeting when they heard that this film was going to be made, and they expressed their concerns. Marty is a legend because, in addition to being a great film director, he is an incredible human being. If the director had been someone else, he would have ignored this invitation.
And about his role?
There were a lot of people on the set waiting for me and Leonardo to talk about our characters. They worked with me to become an Osage woman, and to act like someone from the tribe then. It’s not mentioned in the script, but Mollie had been in boarding school as a child, which had been traumatic.
What do you think of the relationship between your character and DiCaprio’s?
It is a very difficult love story to understand. From what we were told in later years, they had a harmonious family life. The truth is that in our work with Leo we were shaping it, and while we were trying to find the dynamic in this relationship, we worked on several scenes that could be interpreted in different ways. There was one that was key, with five or six versions, with different levels of complicity on Ernest’s part, others where we explored true love, and also some where Mollie suspected the his intentions And yet, we ended up opting for a variant in which what you see is love.
