Lily Gladstone facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lily Gladstone
Gladstone in 2024
Born	(1986-08-02) August 2, 1986 (age 38) Kalispell, Montana, U.S.
Education	University of Montana (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present
Relatives	Red Crow (great-great grandfather)
Awards	Full list

Lily Gladstone (born August 2, 1986) is an American actress. Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation, Gladstone is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage. She earned critical acclaim for portraying Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman who survived the Osage Indian murders, in Martin Scorsese's crime drama film Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), receiving several accolades. She was the first Native American to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Gladstone made her feature film debut in Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2012), and collaborated with filmmaker Kelly Reichardt on the independent films Certain Women (2016) and First Cow (2019). She also appeared in episodes of HBO's Room 104 (2017–2020), Showtime's Billions (2016–2023), and FX's Reservation Dogs (2021–2023). Her performance in the crime drama miniseries Under the Bridge (2024) earned her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Early life and education

Gladsone was born in 1986. Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana, she is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage and grew up on the reservation of the Blackfeet Nation. Her mother is white and her father is Blackfeet and Nez Perce. On her mother's side, she is a 1st cousin, 4 times removed of William Ewart Gladstone, British Prime Minister. One of her paternal great-great grandfathers was Red Crow, a Kainai Nation chief.

She has cited the desire to portray an Ewok after watching Return of the Jedi at the age of 5 as inspiring her to become an actress. One of Gladstone's first acting experiences as a child was when the Missoula Children's Theatre came to East Glacier to put on Cinderella and she was cast as one of the evil stepsisters. Gladstone's family moved to the Seattle area during her middle school years to be closer to her grandmother. There she was enrolled in Stone Soup Theatre, a non profit educational theatre company for the Seattle youth, which then led to starring in student films and theses.

She graduated from Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington in 2004. Gladstone attended the University of Montana where she studied Theatre of the Oppressed. At UM, she performed in Riders to the Sea (2006), Richard III (2006), Miss Julie (2007) and Coyote on a Fence (2008). She graduated in 2008 with a BFA in Acting/Directing and a minor in Native American Studies. Upon graduating, she taught acting classes and workshops in her native community. She taught an image theatre acting method she called a "sculpture garden" as violence prevention sponsored by the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. In 2010, she performed in The Frybread Queen, a co-production by Native Voices at the Autry, the UM School of Theatre and Dance and The Montana Repertory Theatre.

Career

Early work and breakthrough (2012–2022)

Gladstone made her film debut in Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2012). She then acted in Winter in the Blood (2012) and Buster's Mal Heart (2016) before making her career breakthrough as Jamie, a rancher, in Kelly Reichardt's film Certain Women (2016). The role earned Gladstone the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female and Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor.

Gladstone performed the role of Kate Keller in the 2014 Montana Repertory Theatre's national touring production of The Miracle Worker. Gladstone was in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival acting company in 2017 and starred in the Yale Repertory Theatre production of Mary Kathryn Nagle's Manahatta in 2020. In 2017, Gladstone hosted a series on the educational YouTube channel Crash Course about film production. Gladstone had a small role in Reichardt's 2019 film First Cow before starring in the 2022 film The Unknown Country, directed by Morrisa Maltz, for which she received the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance.

Career progression (2023–present)

Gladstone at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival with Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear

Gladstone was cast in the lead role of Mollie Kyle in Martin Scorsese's 2023 feature film Killers of the Flower Moon, which was released theatrically in October 2023. Her performance received critical acclaim and was described as a highlight of the film. Critic Josh Spiegel of /Film said that she "brought [Mollie] to life with incredible passion". In January 2024, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama; she was the first Indigenous (Native American) person to win an acting Golden Globe. She also became the first Native American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In February 2024, she became the first Indigenous actor to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Female Actor.

Earlier in 2023, Gladstone starred in Fancy Dance which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and was distributed worldwide by Apple TV+. In 2024, Gladstone starred in the crime drama miniseries Under the Bridge, about the murder of Reena Virk. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Gladstone also costarred in Jazzy, written and directed by Maltz. Gladstone will costar in The Wedding Banquet, which began filming in May 2024. Also in May, Gladstone served as a member of the jury for the main competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. In June 2024, Gladstone was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Personal life

Gladstone goes by both "she" and "they" pronouns. She explained in 2023, "In most Native languages, most Indigenous languages, Blackfeet included, there are no gendered pronouns. There is no he/she, there's only they... my pronoun use is partly a way of decolonizing gender for myself." Gladstone identifies as "middle-gendered" and a member of the LGBTQ community.

Filmography

Film work by Lily Gladstone

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian	Sunshine First Raise
2013	Winter in the Blood	Marlene
2016	Certain Women	Jamie
	Buster's Mal Heart	Morning Shift Concierge
2017	Walking Out	Lila
2019	First Cow	Chief Factor's Wife
2022	The Unknown Country	Tana	Also story writer
	Quantum Cowboys	Linde
	The Last Manhunt	Maria
2023	Fancy Dance	Jax	Also executive producer
	Killers of the Flower Moon	Mollie Kyle
2024	Jazzy	Tana	Also executive producer
2025	The Wedding Banquet	Lee	Post-production
TBA	In Memoriam	TBA	Filming

Accolades