'Elio' star Zoe Saldana says her Oscar trophy is 'gender fluid' and goes by 'they/them’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Zoe Saldana has turned her new Academy Award into a conversation starter.

While walking the carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of Disney and Pixar’s 'Elio', the actress revealed she treats the gold statuette like a family member with its own identity.

 Zoe Saldana says her Oscar trophy is gender-neutral 

Zoe Saldana, 46, won an Oscar earlier this year for her supporting role in Jacques Audiard’s 'Emilia Perez'.

The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' star told People she keeps the award in her office. “We have it in my office, and my Oscar is gender fluid,” Saldana said.

She then playfully added that the figure is “trans” and “goes by they/them.”

Her comments echo the themes of 'Emilia Perez', in which Saldana’s character helps the lead, played by Karla Sofía Gascon, secure gender-affirming surgery.

The performance dominated the 2025 season, sweeping the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, BAFTAs, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Oscars.

During her acceptance speech at the Dolby Theatre in March, Saldana thanked the Academy “for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita, and talking about powerful women.”

She followed with a personal note, saying,  “Jacques, you are a beloved character in my life. Thank you for taking the interest. Thank you for being so curious about these women to tell this story. To my cast and my crew of ‘Emilia Pérez,’ I’m sharing this award with you.”

Before Zoe Saldana, Jamie Lee Curtis used they/them pronouns for her Oscar

Zoe Saldana isn’t the first winner to humanize the statuette. Jamie Lee Curtis famously began using they/them pronouns for her Oscar after winning best supporting actress for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' in 2023, explaining the gesture honored her daughter Ruby, who is transgender, as per Variety.

Now Saldana has followed that lead. At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Saldana and co-stars Gascon, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz shared the best actress award for 'Emilia Perez'.

The project resonated so widely that Saldana compared its reception to lifting a cultural weight off her shoulders.

Zoe Saldana's sons compare her award to ‘World Cup of acting'

Zoe Saldana is set to play Olga Solís in 'Elio', Pixar’s tale of an imaginative boy swept into an intergalactic adventure.

“Since becoming a parent, incorporating what I do — my art — into a genre that caters to children has always been a great interest to me,” Zoe Saldana said on 'Good Morning America' earlier this month.

She added, “My 8-year-old cannot wait for Elio to come out.”

The actress' sons—Zen, 8, and 10-year-old twins Bowie and Cy—usually shrug off her credits, but even they recognized the Oscar.

“My work is kind of like their backyard, so they do understand it and ... they care about it and then they don’t,” Saldana told People in May.

She laughed that their friends’ excitement finally impressed her sons. “They think in soccer language,” she joked, explaining that the trio decided “it’s kind of like the World Cup, Mom. It’s like the World Cup of acting.”