Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is not Lily Gladstone’s first acting role — but it’s the one that will make her a household name.
The actress made her acting debut in the 2012 movie Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian. More than a decade later, she’s starring as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon, based on the 2017 nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann — and is already getting some major praise.
“She had a very sharp sense of her own presence before the camera and an extremely unusual trust in simplicity,” Scorsese told Vulture in August 2023 about Gladstone. “That’s a rare thing. You can’t take your eyes off her.”
Gladstone holds her own in the film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, who played her husband in the movie.
“When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one — until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery,” the official Apple TV+ logline reads.
With such a high-profile film under her belt, Gladstone joked that she “can’t not” think about how a movie like this will impact her career.
“I anticipated I would be way more nervous. I am just grateful I get to be here doing all of this,” she shared during the Kering Women in Motion Talks at Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. “I do think about whatever this attention [brings], but it’s to be shared. It’s not to be hoarded or boasted.”
While she is admittedly apprehensive about her own star rising, Gladstone is excited for “more people to see what Martin Scorsese has created and to learn about Osage perseverance and survival.”
Keep scrolling for everything to know about the Killers of the Flower Moon star:
1. Gladstone Has a College Degree
She graduated from the University of Montana in 2008 with a BFA in acting and directing along with a minor in Native American Studies.
2. Gladstone Has a Native American Background
Gladstone lived on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana until she was 11 years old. Her father is of Nez Perce and Blackfeet heritage.
“I am shaped by my community,” she told The Guardian in February 2017. “I have been supported in my ambition to be an actor and storyteller.’’
3. Gladstone Has an Impressive Resume
Other than Killers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone has been recognized for her roles in Showtime’s Billions, HBO’s Room 104, Certain Women, Walking Out, First Cow and FX’s Reservation Dogs, among other projects.
4. Gladstone Collaborated With the Osage Nation for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
She collaborated with Scorsese on certain parts of the film, especially after Gladstone saw some similarities between their character and her real life.
“It was clear that I wasn’t just going to be given space to collaborate. I was expected to bring a lot to the table,” Gladstone recalled to Vulture. “That gave Marty and I a lot to talk about. That’s what being equitable is — not just opening the door. It’s pulling a seat out next to you at the table.”
5. Gladstone Is an Award-Winning Actress
She has already been nominated for various awards — including an Independent Spirit Award — over the course of her career, winning a San Diego Film Critics Society and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, among others.
