Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s historical crime thriller based on the Osage Nation murders in 1920s Oklahoma, is one of the most-nominated films of the 2023-2024 awards season. With a star-studded ensemble featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Brendan Fraser, the adaptation of David Grann’s book has been revered by audiences as a remarkable account of an often-sidelined chapter of American history.

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Amidst the star-studded cast of frequent Scorsese collaborators, a lesser-known name has been cited as the film’s greatest strength, and has broken barriers across awards season. Lily Gladstone, an actress who almost left the profession the very same day she was cast as Mollie Burkhart, is now a favorite to win the Best Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards, after they won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in the Drama category.

Lily Gladstone biography

Lily Gladstone (born 1986) is an Indigenous Montana-born actress who hails from the Piegan Blackfeet and Nimíipuu Nations. While Lily’s mother is white and has no Native ancestry, Gladstone revealed during their Golden Globes acceptance speech that her mother campaigned for the Blackfeet language to be taught in schools she attended, and spoke the language of the Blackfeet Nation during the speech.

Gladstone is distantly related to former British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, as well as Red Crow, a renowned Kainai Nation Chief. The 37-year-old is two-spirit, and uses she/they pronouns.

Lily participated in small regional theater productions as a child and acted in school plays after moving to Seattle, Washington as an adolescent. In one now-viral yearbook photo, Gladstone was voted “most likely to win an Oscar” in the Mountlake Terrace High School class of 2004.

Graduating from the University of Montana, Gladstone holds a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Acting/Directing and a minor in Native American Studies. After graduating, they taught acting in workshops in their Native American communities.

Outside of acting, Lily may be familiar to many film students, as she taught the film production course of the PBS/YouTube web series Crash Course. In the series, Lily passes on their knowledge from both film school and her on-set experiences as an actor on various projects.

What was Lily Gladstone’s breakout role?

Lily rose to acclaim with their third feature, Certain Women, in 2016. Starring alongside Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, and Michelle Williams in Kelly Reichardt’s adapted drama, Gladstone received stand-out praise and applause for her role as the rancher, Jamie, in the movie.

Gladstone was nominated for an Independent Spirits Award for their performance while winning several critics associations’ awards in the Best Supporting Actress category. Certain Women proved to play a pivotal role for Gladstone as it was the same film that led to her landing on Martin Scorsese’s radar.

What other productions has Lily Gladstone appeared in?

In crucial episodic roles, Gladstone has appeared in Billions, Room 104, and Reservation Dogs. They also played minor roles in films such as First Cow (also directed by Kelly Reichardt) and the survival drama Walking Out. In 2023, she played Jax in Erica Tremblay’s directorial debut, Fancy Dance, which opened at Sundance to a rave response. Killers of the Flower Moon would mark Lily’s most mainstream role.

Lily Gladstone is set to appear in a supporting role in the upcoming miniseries Under the Bridge, a true-crime thriller starring Riley Keough, Izzy G, and Michael Buie. The series follows the murder of a fourteen-year-old teenage girl and its aftermath investigations through the lens of the author Rebecca Godfrey (played by Keough).

How a chance email from Martin Scorsese prevented Lily Gladstone from quitting acting

Given the universal acclaim for Gladstone’s performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, it is hard to believe that the actor had nearly retired from the profession before the opportunity found her. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Lily explained that after a string of professional disappointments in August 2020, she looked for work elsewhere.

“I had my credit card out, registering for a data analytics course,” Gladstone explained – before an email notification from none other than Martin Scorsese popped up, requesting a Zoom call about potentially starring in Scorsese’s adaptation of the nonfiction novel.

Gladstone worked directly with the Osage Nation, who were present in front of and behind the camera during the production of the film, working in supporting actor roles, as well as consultants on Osage language and culture. Many Osage actors played their own descendants, such as Wilson Pipestem, who portrayed his own grandfather, a prominent Osage leader, in the film.

Gladstone, DiCaprio, and Scorsese held various meetings with Osage people to accurately recreate various customs and rituals, as well as ensuring Gladstone could speak the Osage language proficiently. “As the community warmed up to our presence, the more the community got involved with the film,” Gladstone told Variety. “It’s a different movie than the one [Scorsese] walked in to make almost entirely because of what the community had to say about how it was being made and what was being portrayed.”