Lily Gladstone believes "perspectives are broadening" within the movie business.
Lily Gladstone has welcomed change in the film industry
The 37-year-old actress recently became the first Native American woman to be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars, and Lily has now suggested that the nomination reflects wider changes in the film industry.
Lily - who has been nominated for her performance in the Martin Scorsese-directed 'Killers of the Flower Moon' - told the BBC: "Times absolutely are changing; people's perspectives are broadening. The Academy has gotten much more diverse in the last 10, 20 years. I think it's also because Native and Indigenous filmmakers have been continually blowing audiences away with what we've been making … people are ready."
'Killers of the Flower Moon' focuses on the murders of Native Americans after oil was discovered on tribal land.
Lily feels very proud of the movie and the story that it tells.
She said: "By bringing Indigenous performers into a place where we're leading ladies, we're leading films that people are feeling they're resonating with from all walks of life. That's proving that we belong in these places and we have a lot to offer. Like the stories that we have to tell are ones that everybody can benefit from, not just us."
Lily was initially hesitant about making the movie.
However, she was reassured by the presence of her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
The actress - who was raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana - shared: "You know, Leo with his climate activism in the way that I know his organisation centres grassroots, Indigenous people, I had a feeling that that's what he would be like to work with on this project, and certainly was."
Tagged in Martin Scorsese