Emilia Perez stars to present Bafta prizes with Karla Sofia Gascon unconfirmed
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporter
Emilia Perez stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez are to present prizes at Sunday’s Bafta awards, with actress Karla Sofia Gascon not confirmed among those attending the event amid criticism over a number of tweets.
The 52-year-old is nominated for best leading actress at the awards, but has stepped back from promoting the film after the X posts, made between 2019 and 2024, about Islam, the death of George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars resurfaced following the musical’s release.
Gascon, who became the first trans woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe for the French film set in Mexico, has not attended recent awards shows the film has featured at, with the latest being Spain’s Goya Awards.
In an interview with Deadline, the film’s director Jacques Audiard said her X remarks were “absolutely hateful” and said they had made it “very hard” for him to think back to his “exceptional” time working with her.
After the director’s interview, Gascon announced she would “let the work talk for itself”, and said she was “hoping my silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is”.
Emilia Perez follows four women in Mexico as they each pursue their own happiness, and sees fearsome cartel leader Emilia enlist Rita, an unappreciated lawyer, to help fake her death so that she can finally live authentically as her true self, after transitioning from man to woman.
The film has seen Saldana, who plays Rita, nominated for best actress in a supporting role at the awards, where she will face off against fellow co-star Gomez, who plays Jessi.
The Last Showgirl actress Jamie Lee Curtis will also not be attending the ceremony, despite her nomination for best supporting actress in the film, due to Los Angeles wildfires delaying filming on her current work.
Pamela Anderson, who stars in the film as Shelly Gardner, a successful Las Vegas showgirl who learns that the revue she has performed in for 30 years is to close, will be at the event.
Other stars attending the awards will include Ralph Fiennes, Demi Moore, Mark Hamill, James Norton, Mikey Madison, Orlando Bloom, Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, Timothee Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan.
During the ceremony, actor Warwick Davis will be honoured with the Bafta Fellowship, the arts charity’s highest accolade, for his prolific career and work to create a more inclusive film industry.
At the event, Take That will perform their 2008 UK number one single Greatest Day, which was used in 2024 film Anora, while Jeff Goldblum will take to the piano for the ceremony’s in memoriam section.
The event, hosted by David Tennant, will air on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday February 16 at 7pm.