SEATTLE — She grew up performing for her middle and high school productions in Snohomish County, and now Lily Gladstone is on the precipice of an Oscar nomination.
In "Killers of the Flower Moon," she plays Mollie Burkhart - a member of the Osage Nation whose family is murdered for their oil rights.
Both her Oscar winning co-star (Leonardo DiCaprio) and director (Martin Scorsese) have said Gladstone is the heart of the film, and her Academy Award buzz is growing.
Entertainment reporter Kim Holcomb spoke with Gladstone, starting with her formative years in Mountlake Terrance.
GLADSTONE: "I'm a Hawk, I'm an MTHS grad, 2004."
HOLCOMB: "I've read some of your teachers saying, ‘Lily knew exactly who she was at age 15, she knew exactly what she was going to do.’ Did you feel that at the time?"
GLADSTONE: "Oddly maybe yes, in some ways no. We had to write out our 10-year plan when we were seniors, and I'd written back then 'Maybe my career will start lifting off, nothing too big, some good indies.' I just had a lot of encouragement. I mean, my graduating class voted me 'Most Likely to Win an Oscar.' (laughs)”
HOLCOMB: "Is it wild or surreal to you that it's now a very possible thing that is going to happen? That Oscar chatter is real.”
GLADSTONE: “It is definitely a lot of out of body experiences. (laughs) I mean, my dad told me when I was younger, and kids are mean - I was an exceptionally exuberant, expressive, loud kid so I caught a lot of bullying. But he always said, 'Don't worry, all of those kids are going to want to be friends when you win your Oscar.' He put that in my head when he was young enough that I was just like, 'Okay dad, you're right. I'll just keep going.'"
HOLCOMB: "I did want to talk about what you put out there recently, which is for indigenous audiences to make sure they’re ready to see this film, maybe watch with other people who are going to process it the same way because of generational grief. I'm wondering if you experienced any of that yourself while filming, and also if there were moments that were cathartic or joyful because of what you were experiencing?”
GLADSTONE: “All of them together. I'm glad you mentioned the joy, because there were so many native people on set at any given time, there were Osage people in every department of the film. When we're all together in community - this is no surprise in Indian country or to people who spend time in it - we're laughing all the time. But what we found was, that was really necessary. All of our communities have these generational griefs that we process together. And I've always been taught those spirits, those people that are no longer with us, they don't want to constantly feel and be reminded of that trauma. They want to hear us laughing."
HOLCOMB: “There is also joy coming in other ways to communities – I don’t know if you understand the ripple that you made here when you posed for British Vogue wearing a blanket that was designed by (Native-owned) Eighth Generation…”
GLADSTONE: “You know there’s going to be an audience, but then you also have a lifetime of people telling you that it’s too niche, talking about your culture, talking about your community. It’s not going to reach everybody. So, it’s just a validation that we’re rocking it as a community. (laughs) And I've just been trying to get a hold of that Coast Salish blanket that Louie Gong designed forever but it's been off the website, so now I'm happy there's enough demand so it's back."
"Killers of the Flower Moon" is rated R. Lily Gladstone is nominated for Best Actress at both The Golden Globes and The Critics Choice Awards.
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