It has been a big awards season for Latines in the entertainment industry, with several nominations across the board. This week, the 2024 Oscar nominations were announced, with “Oppenheimer,” “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Barbie” leading the race.

Setting this year apart from others is the historical nominations of people of color, among them Lily Gladstone as the first Native American acting nominee and Coleman Domingo, the first Afro-Latino nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Something else that has us fangirling like never before? America Ferrera‘s first-ever Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

While the mere mention of the iconic doll might summon images of pink plastic perfection, Ferrera’s monologue transcends the toy aisle to deliver a poignant and powerful message that resonates far beyond the Barbieland.

Here are the other Latinos bringing the sazón to this year’s Oscars.

Becky G, America Ferrera and Coleman Domingo are among the Latines breaking barriers at this year’s Academy Awards

Actors aren’t the only ones celebrated with nominations this year. Puerto Rican-Mexican producer David Hinojosa, received nominations for “Past Lives,” one of the best picture runners. Phil Lord, the Cuban-American producer, was also nominated for “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Meanwhile, the incredible Becky G earned a nomination for “Flamin’ Hot,” directed by Eva Longoria, for best original song, “The Fire Inside.”

Additionally, Rodrigo Prieto was nominated for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Pablo Larraín in “El Conde” for best cinematography. Additionally, Chilean producer and director Maite Alberdi is nominated for “La memoria infinita.”

Ferrera’s nomination came as a pleasant surprise. The actress wasn’t previously nominated under this category for “Barbie,” and told Variety she was shocked when she heard the news.

“There was a moment where I wasn’t sure if I had made it up,” she said. “And then my phone started blowing up so I figured that I must have heard it right.”

The Honduran-American actress’s monologue sparked a wave of reflection worldwide, not just for women, but everyone. While Ferrera played Gloria, her character’s monologue was even cited by Kevin Costner at the Golden Globes, showcasing its cultural impact.

“It’s an overwhelming amount of love and support and congratulations to me,” Ferrera added. “I feel it so deeply and am so grateful for their love and support and in this moment. It’s been a long ‘Barbie’ journey — I mean longer even for Greta and Margot and Noah, it’s been years and years and years — everyone’s really excited that we get to celebrate and to end this journey at the biggest party of the year.”

The Oscar’s failure to nominate Gerwig and Margot Robbie sparked disappointment across the entertainment industry

Despite the incredible nominations for this year’s films, the Academy is under fire for failing to nominate Gerwig and Margot Robbie. While “Barbie” received several nods for best picture, adapted screenplay, costume design, original songs, best supporting actress (Ferrera) and best supporting actor (Ryan Gosling), the director and main character were left out.

“Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it,” Ferrera told Variety. “Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”

The film was the highest-grossing picture in 2023, earning over $600 million domestically. But despite its monumental success, both women were excluded from nominations.

“What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable,” Ferrera says. “One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.”