Zoe Saldana was nearly unrecognizable as a blue Na’vi princess in the “Avatar” franchise, and wore green makeup to play the reformed assassin Gamora in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films.But in the psychedelic narco-musical “Emilia Perez,” for which she won an Oscar on Sunday, the performer of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent spoke, sang and even rapped in her native Spanish — fully inhabiting her own Afro-Latina skin.”I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands,” said the 46-year-old Saldana, who swept through awards season before taking the Academy Award for best supporting actress.”I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award. And I know I will not be the last.”Saldana bested a crowded field that included Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”), Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”) and Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”).In “Emilia Perez,” Saldana plays Rita, an underappreciated Mexican attorney. Her life radically changes when she is contacted by a drug lord seeking to fake his own death so that he can undergo gender-affirming surgery and live as a woman.That woman (Karla Sofia Gascon) is the title character, who initially leaves behind a wife (Selena Gomez) and two children to embrace her new identity but ultimately brings them back into her life — with tragic consequences.Rita quickly is caught in the middle of the drama. Saldana — who has formal dance training — enjoys her big moment in the film when Rita raps and dances to “El Mal,” revealing the secrets of Mexico’s elites at a charity dinner hosted by Perez, who becomes an activist for victims of drug crime.Late last year, she told Elle magazine that “the opportunity never really came” for her to act in Spanish before French director Jacques Audiard rewrote the role — intended for a man of Mexican descent — to fit Saldana’s background.- ‘Yearning for that reconnection’ -Saldana was born on June 19, 1978 to a Dominican father and a Dominican-Puerto Rican mother in New Jersey. Raised bilingual in New York, she moved to the Dominican Republic after her father died when she was nine years old.It was there that she started to study dance, specifically ballet. Saldana returned to New York to finish high school and appeared in some youth theater productions. After doing an episode of the television series “Law & Order,” she landed her first film role in 2000’s “Center Stage,” playing a ballet student. A few years later, she had a supporting role in the hugely successful “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” which led to other small roles. But Saldana’s big break came in 2009 when she starred in James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar,” the top-grossing film of all time. That same year, she joined a reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise as Lieutenant Uhura.Five years after that, Saldana found herself as Gamora in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, which spawned roles in two “Avengers” films.Her position as a bankable franchise star was secure, but Saldana told Elle she wanted more.”I was very much like, ‘Well, that’s okay, I’m going to dance to the beat of my own drum and I’ll go to space and I’ll be green and I’ll be blue and I’ll do all those things.’ Then 15 years go by, and I’m yearning for that reconnection,” she said.- New ‘Avatar’ film coming -And along came Audiard.”When I had this woman in front of me, a determined woman in her 40s with a strong past, (I realized) I had gotten the casting wrong. I realized my characters were too young! They needed to be older,” Audiard told The Hollywood Reporter.The role was a huge departure for Saldana, after starring in four films that each made more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office — two “Avatar” films and two “Avengers” movies.Her campaign for Oscars glory was disrupted by controversy surrounding past tweets from Gascon, comments which Saldana said had made her “really sad.”A month before the gala, Audiard said Gascon was “hurting others,” and that he would continue to “champion” Saldana’s work.A married mother of three, her upcoming projects include the Disney/Pixar space-themed animated project “Elio,” due for release in June, and a new “Avatar” installment due out in December.

The Oscars, Hollywood’s glitziest night of the year, got under way Sunday, with joint favorites “Anora” and “Conclave” seemingly poised for a showdown for the best picture prize.”Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo kicked off the show with a soaring medley honoring the land of Oz that brought the house down, including a rapturously received “Defying Gravity” from their nominated film.Then it was time for host Conan O’Brien, who emerged from Demi Moore’s body in a riff on the body horror flick “The Substance” to begin his monologue.”Welcome to the 97th Academy Awards,” he said. “It’s Hollywood’s biggest night, that starts at four in the afternoon.”He took early aim at the controversy that has surrounded “Emilia Perez,” whose transgender star sank the film’s Oscar hopes when a series of offensive tweets were unearthed.”Little fact for you: ‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist,” he said.The first prize of the evening — for best supporting actor — was no surprise, with Kieran Culkin getting the honor for “A Real Pain.””I’ve already lost whatever speech I prepared,” the perpetually flustered Culkin said.”I have no idea how I got here. I’ve just been acting my whole life. It’s just been a part of what I do.- ‘Anora’ or ‘Conclave’? -If Culkin, who swept every award this season, was no surprise, the race for best picture is too close to call, with two wildly different films seen as frontrunners for best picture — “Conclave” and “Anora.”Sean Baker’s “Anora” — about a New York stripper and escort who weds a wealthy Russian playboy, only to learn that her dream marriage is a nightmare illusion — won the Cannes festival’s Palme d’Or last May.”Conclave” — a film about the secretive and cutthroat election of a new Catholic leader, lent an uncanny timeliness by the real-life Pope Francis’s health woes — appears to have won over many late voters.The film starring Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini earned top honors from Britain’s BAFTAs, and the Hollywood actors’ SAG Award for best cast.Baker took the Oscar for best original screenplay for “Anora,” while Peter Straughan won for best adapted screenplay for “Conclave.”One Oscars voter told AFP they had voted for “Conclave” because “it’s just more of a traditional, classic ‘best picture’ film.”- Oscar records -The voter, anonymous because Academy members cannot reveal their picks, also expressed admiration for “The Brutalist,” a potential dark horse about a Hungarian Jewish architect making a new life in the United States after World War II.Adrien Brody, who plays the titular gifted architect and Holocaust survivor, has been the presumed favorite to win the best actor Oscar for months. Brody has won the prize previously, for 2002’s “The Pianist.” If he prevails again, he’d join an elite club of double winners including Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson.But Timothee Chalamet — who earned wide admiration for his pitch-perfect performance as a sardonic young Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” — won the Screen Actors Guild Award over Brody, and could prove a spoiler.His lemon yellow suit on Sunday turned heads, the latest red carpet talking point in a season that has also seen him arrive late on a ride-share bike to one ceremony.At just 29, he arguably has the most star power of any of this year’s nominees, and would beat Brody’s record as the category’s youngest-ever winner.Brody is “still the safer pick,” said The Hollywood Reporter’s awards expert Scott Feinberg — assuming enough Academy voters made it through his film’s three-and-a-half-hour runtime.- Oscar for Demi?-There could be an even younger winner on the actress side, if a groundswell of support for “Anora” carries its star Mikey Madison, 25, to the Oscars stage.But she will have to get past Demi Moore, the 1990s megastar who has enjoyed a sparkling career renaissance thanks to “The Substance.”If the vote is split, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres could spring a surprise with “I’m Still Here,” about a family ripped apart by her country’s military dictatorship.The ceremony itself is expected to be an emotional affair, honoring firefighters who battled blazes that killed 29 people and devastated Los Angeles in January.As well as Grande and Erivo, producers have also enlisted Doja Cat and Lisa from the K-pop group Blackpink to perform.For the first time, the gala will stream live on Hulu, as well as on US network ABC, and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

In doubling down on tariffs targeting Canada, Mexico and China, US President Donald Trump cites a lack of progress on tackling fentanyl, but analysts say the drug crisis is just one of his political goals.”He needs a legal justification” for his tariffs, said Joshua Meltzer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.And while other trade tools typically require an investigation period, declaring an emergency over drugs also allows him to impose tariffs quickly.Fentanyl also has “political resonance” for Trump, Meltzer told AFP.”People, particularly in rural, poorer communities are very ambivalent, if not opposed to trade,” he said.”Justifying trade restrictions based on something that they do see as a real threat, which is fentanyl, makes perfect sense for a lot of his voters,” he added.In early February, Trump unveiled — then temporarily halted — sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico.The pause expires Tuesday, while fresh levies are set to hit China too.Trump has said the tariffs would proceed as drugs were pouring in at “unacceptable levels.”Yet, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly stressed that below one percent of the fentanyl and undocumented migrants entering the United States come through the border.Trump dismissed those figures Thursday, saying that Canada was “only apprehending one percent” and should find much more.The United States has seen tens of thousands of deaths related to opioids like fentanyl annually, though the latest figures — for 2023 — showed a decrease from the prior year.- ‘More uninhibited’ -While Washington has traditionally compartmentalized its relationships, Trump “looks at relationships in their totality,” said Kimberly Breier, a former senior US diplomat during Trump’s first term.Steel and aluminum tariffs Trump imposed in 2018 were negotiated away in US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) talks, for example.Any fresh duties imposed this time will become part of discussions in an upcoming USMCA review, Breier said.Trump also threatened tariffs over immigration in his first term, but “he’s more uninhibited now,” she added.Annie Pforzheimer, a former US career diplomat, said recent presidents have had “a strong affiliation to free trade.”Officials have avoided bringing other issues into the mix, as business ties take a long time to establish and politics have a shorter timeframe.But Pforzheimer added: “This administration is very protectionist in nature, is more likely to see the free trade relations as something they’re willing to sacrifice.”- ‘Just the beginning’ -Regardless of Trump’s motives, anti-drug activists expressed strong support for his push on the issue.For Andrea Thomas, 57, who lost her daughter to half a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, “this is what we’ve been asking for as impacted families for a long time.””We’ve been asking for a whole-of-government response,” said Thomas, who is executive director of Facing Fentanyl, a network of families impacted by the drug.Having an economic outlook was new in her advocacy against the drug, she said.She was at the forefront of a petition last year calling for tools like tariffs to be deployed against China over its alleged role in the fentanyl trade.To her, stopping the flow of precursors is a critical way to save lives.She believes the 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods that took effect in February is “just the beginning.”Washington has long accused Beijing of turning a blind eye to the fentanyl trade, an issue China denies.- ‘Desired effect’ -Some experts argue against the use of tariffs to tackle fentanyl.In a recent article in The Lancet Regional Health — Americas, epidemiologists said tariff-based border controls were ineffective against trafficking given the flexibility of transnational drug networks.They warned that tariffs on neighboring countries could “undermine essential diplomatic cooperation.”But Breier noted Trump’s tariff threats on Mexico had a “desired effect of changing behavior” with the country taking the problem more seriously.Mexico has handed over 29 alleged drug lords, including a suspect who was said to have ordered the killing of a US agent.This is “a turn-the-corner moment and could kick off a new era of bilateral cooperation,” she added.

Gingerly placing a gun on her kitchen counter, American trans pilot Jo Ellis said she no longer leaves her apartment without a firearm after false online claims about her involvement in a fatal air crash triggered a deluge of threats.The career of the Black Hawk pilot in the Virginia Army National Guard hangs in limbo after a Pentagon memo last week revealed that transgender troops will be purged from the military unless they obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis.President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders targeting the trans community — a flash point in the so-called culture wars roiling the United States — including barring them from women’s sports and instructing the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female.Tens of thousands of social media posts falsely identified Ellis, 35, as one of the pilots of the army helicopter that collided with a passenger plane in Washington in late January, killing everyone aboard both aircrafts.Without offering any evidence, Trump suggested the aviation authority’s diversity hiring practices could partly be to blame for the crash, making trans personnel such as Ellis a ripe target for online rumors.Her friends alerted her to a random Facebook account asking around if people knew Ellis, calling her the one who “killed those people in the crash” and other posts that questioned whether it was a “trans terror attack.”Others sent her screenshots of two news sites, including a Pakistani outlet, which suggested that Ellis was piloting the ill-fated helicopter.As the rumors reached a fever pitch, with Ellis’s name trending on the Elon Musk-owned platform X, a British newspaper reporter called her cellphone asking if she was alive.”When I noticed how big the issue was, and I saw some of the comments, my first thought was: ‘Is my family safe?'” Ellis told AFP at her apartment in the city of Richmond.- ‘We’re a target’ -“I arranged armed private security for my house and packed my bags,” Ellis said, displaying her personal firearms, including a gun the size of her hand that she carries in her purse.Worried that someone might track down her home using public records, she temporarily moved her family to a new location.Ellis posted a “proof of life” video on Facebook, which quelled only some of the rumors.The threats facing Ellis, who has served in the National Guard since 2009 and has deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, highlight the real-life impact of disinformation for transgender people at a time when there has been a sharp uptick in the political rhetoric against them.”I believe we’re a target right now,” Ellis said.”We’re being vilified as this kind of boogeyman,” she added.Online posts suggested that her hatred for Trump had motivated her to kill herself and dozens of others, an accusation she found strange for someone who had voted “red more than blue.””I’m actually from a family that voted for Trump, so it’s very strange to see that.”- ‘Upsetting’ -Adding to that was job insecurity prompted by the Pentagon memo, which became public as part of a court filing in a case challenging Trump’s recent executive order aimed at barring military service for transgender personnel.Ellis said her supervisors, who reached out to offer support after the disinformation campaign, had informed her that the memo had not yet trickled down to them and encouraged her to continue for now.”It’s upsetting, but I will continue to place the mission first and do my job,” Ellis said of the memo.”I’m not sure I meet the criteria for a waiver, but I will try to exhaust all options that allow me to continue serving.”In a personal essay for the website Smerconish published just before the air crash, Ellis wrote she noticed symptoms of gender dysphoria from the age of five but learned to hide them from her family.Growing up in a religious and conservative home with a history of military service, she tried to be “more manly” in hopes it would “cure” her.She received “overwhelming support” when she notified her command in 2023 that she would begin transitioning. Ellis came out to her unit the following year.”If I was serving today and was not out, I would consider not coming out, or I would consider leaving the military,” she said.”Because it doesn’t seem like it’s an environment where you can serve effectively with the current policies coming down.”

Kieran Culkin on Sunday capped a remarkable year by winning the Oscar for best supporting actor for his work in “A Real Pain,” a bittersweet look at family, friendships and Jewish loss stemming from the Holocaust.The 42-year-old Culkin — the frontrunner throughout Hollywood’s awards season — bested Yura Borisov (“Anora”), Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”), Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”) and Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”).Since January 2024, Culkin has won an Emmy for the final season of HBO’s media family drama “Succession” — on which he starred with Strong — and a pile of trophies for this film role including a Golden Globe, Critics Choice award and Screen Actors Guild Award.”I have no idea how I got here. I’ve just been acting my whole life. It’s just been a part of what I do,” Culkin told the audience, thanking his director, writer and co-star Jesse Eisenberg. “Thank you for this movie. You’re a genius. I would never say that to your face. I’m never saying it again,” Culkin said.”A Real Pain” follows estranged cousins Benji (Culkin) and Dave (Eisenberg) as they go on a so-called heritage tour of Poland to learn more about the early life of their grandmother, who survived the Holocaust.Free-spirited Benji has been somewhat lost since the grandmother died, and is hoping to rekindle his childhood friendship with David, a neurotic New Yorker with a partner, a child and 1,000 worries. Culkin’s performance is both subtle and showy, as Benji swings from sentimental and considerate to explosive and unhinged. The pair’s relationship plays out against the backdrop of a concentration camp and outings with their fellow tour takers.”I connected with the character immediately, which almost never happens,” Culkin told AFP at the film’s premiere at Sundance in early 2024.”I think it’s happened three times ever in my life,” including his beloved role on “Succession” as Roman Roy, he added.In December, Culkin told The New York Times: “I just wanted to show up and not rehearse and not think about it because the character’s spontaneous and surprising.”Eisenberg told USA Today that he cast Culkin — who is not Jewish — after his sister read the script and suggested the actor was the right fit.Culkin brought his “unusual energy” and “great sense of timing and intelligence” to filming, Eisenberg told AFP last month in an interview in Paris.- ‘Whole point of life’ -Born on September 30, 1982 in New York into a family of seven siblings, Culkin started acting as a child and made his film debut as the cousin of Kevin (played by his brother Macaulay) in the 1990 Christmas classic “Home Alone.”After turns in “Father of the Bride” (1991) and the less-well-received “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” the following year, the diminutive, dark-haired actor took a variety of film, television and stage roles.His critical breakthrough would come in 2002 with coming-of-age flick “Igby Goes Down” opposite Claire Danes, Bill Pullman and Susan Sarandon. The role earned him a Golden Globe nomination, but also sent him running from Hollywood.Culkin took roles on the stages of London’s West End and Broadway, including in two plays by Kenneth Lonergan. Eisenberg has said that pedigree is in part what led him to call about “A Real Pain.”A series of small parts followed, including a memorable one in “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” (2010) — and several forgettable ones.All that changed when he was cast as Roman Roy in “Succession,” a saga charting the back-stabbing dynastic squabbles of an ultra-wealthy family that debuted in 2018 to popular and critical acclaim. The series wrapped in 2023.Culkin earned an Emmy, two Critics Choice Awards and a Golden Globe for the role.The actor, who is married with two children, will next be the voice of Squealer in Andy Serkis’ animated adaptation of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” expected to be released this year, according to IMDb.Despite all the accolades of the past year, he told The New York Times that he acted to live, and not the reverse.”That stuff is nice, but the real stuff is me being home with my kids, when I’m reading them books and singing them songs until they go to sleep. That’s the whole point of life. The rest of it I’m doing so I can get back to that,” he said.