Lily Gladstone bio, parents, partner, height, awards, ethnicity, age 2024

Biography of Lily Gladstone

Lily Gladstone is an American actress of Native American descent, who previously starred mostly in independent projects. For her role as ranch owner Jamie in the film "Certain Women" (2016), she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and won several other, albeit less prestigious, film awards.

In early 2024, she became the first actress from a Native American tribe to win a Golden Globe. The award came for her role as Molly Burkhart in Martin Scorsese's drama "Killers of the Flower Moon." She was also nominated for an Oscar for the same role.

Childhood, Youth, Family

Lily was born in the summer of 1986 in the small American town of Kalispell, Montana. Their backyard offered a view of the vast Glacier National Park in the Rocky Mountains. Her father worked in radio, while her mother was a preschool education specialist.

Lily's maternal lineage traces back to Dutch and Cajun heritage, and she is related to the former British Prime Minister William Gladstone. On her father's side, she descends from the Blackfoot tribes and the Nez Perce people.

Lily Gladstone in childhood with her father

The future actress's life story began dramatically. Her parents lived on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation near Browning. When Lily's mother went into labor early in the morning, no local doctor was available to perform the necessary cesarean section. They had to call a helicopter, which transported her to a hospital 100 kilometers away where she underwent surgery.

As a child, Lily suffered from bullying – classmates teased her about her appearance. However, family relationships were wonderful:

...My mother is the foundation of our family, and my father is one of the most brilliant men I know – a gentle giant. I lived on the reservation until I was 11, then we moved due to a lack of economic opportunities.

Reflecting on her childhood, Lily recalled being "an energetic and proactive child, often laughed at – just a plump mixed girl from the reservation with too much creative energy and not enough outlets." She has mixed memories of her hometown Browning:

There's poverty, violence, substance abuse, and unemployment everywhere. But there's so much love in this community. What brings people together there is the love for family, love for the land.

Additionally, thanks to her grandfather and father – both cinephiles who recorded movies on videotapes – Lily had the opportunity to watch the best film releases. At the age of five, after watching "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," Lily told her parents she wanted to become an Ewok and fight against those who shoot these furry creatures.

Her father calmed her, explaining that Ewoks didn't exist and were portrayed by actors. Then the girl replied that she must become an actress since she couldn't be a furry resident of Endor. Her parents supported this aspiration and were delighted when their daughter performed on stage in school productions.

Gladstone graduated from high school in Mountlake Terrace (a suburb of Seattle, Washington). There, she began acting in the youth theater company Stone Soup plays. In 2008, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana, where she studied directing and acting, as well as the culture of Native American peoples.

In 2009, Gladstone joined the touring theater group Living Voices. In 2017, Lily was part of the acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and three years later, she took part in a Yale Repertory Theatre production of Mary Kathryn Nagle's opera "Manahatta."

Film Career

In 2012, Lily stepped onto a film set for the first time. She made her debut in an episode of the drama "Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian," a film about a Blackfoot World War II veteran played by Benicio Del Toro.

Next, the budding actress played Marlene in the drama "Winter in the Blood" alongside Chaske Spencer. She appeared with Nicholas Turturro in the detective movie "Subterranea," and landed a small role as a girl named Roxanne in the popular TV series "Billions."

Gladstone's breakthrough came with her role as ranch owner Jamie in Kelly Reichardt's 2016 film "Certain Women." She was nominated for Gotham and Independent Spirit awards and won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Boston Society of Film Critics awards for Best Supporting Actress. Rolling Stone described her performance as "so piercingly honest and aching that it's almost unbearable to watch."

In the following years, Lily appeared in TV series like "Room 104" and "Reservation Dogs," and took on small roles in low-budget films such as "Walking Out," "Freeland," "Two Eyes," and "First Cow."

By 2020, the actress had begun to look for another profession. She wanted to take on seasonal work tracking murder hornets for the Department of Agriculture and had already submitted her resume, but then, amid the pandemic and lockdown, she was invited to audition via Zoom. Martin Scorsese himself was searching for an actress for the lead role in "Killers of the Flower Moon."

Killers of the Flower Moon — Official Trailer

Later, Leonardo DiCaprio would reveal the secret behind her casting, praising Gladstone as a co-star:

Lily is simply amazing in this film. She carries the entire movie and the whole story. Scorsese immediately realized she was right for the role, thanks to the truthfulness he saw in her eyes on the computer screen. There was no audition. Marty just instinctively knew that Lily was the one. ... I've never seen Scorsese meet someone and then immediately feel such a pull and instinct to say, 'Let's not waste another minute.'

In the drama, which tells the story of the FBI's investigation into a series of murders of Osage Indians in the early 1920s, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Cara Jade Myers also starred. The original screenplay was substantially rewritten so that Gladstone's character (the real-life Molly Kyle Burkhart) was given much more prominence.

Lily Gladstone in 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

While preparing for their roles, Lily and Leonardo reviewed numerous surviving documents, as the actress, mindful of her roots, shared in an interview:

...I feel that I can never truly understand or bring to life what it meant to be an Osage woman at that time, because it's unimaginable what this community had to face, and it's horrifying how it was erased... We sat and looked at these court transcripts on very fragile old paper... I was so moved and clearly understood that this role for me is a responsibility to the community that was completely erased from its own history.

Lily Gladstone's Personal Life

The actress carefully shields her personal life from the public eye. It is known that the beautiful representative of the Native American tribe is not married and does not have children. Currently, Lily is fully focused on her career, and she is predicted to have a great future in Hollywood. Judging by her new roles, this prediction is not far from the truth.

Based on her appearances on the red carpets, Gladstone prefers to wear clothing from local couturiers, pairing them with Native-style jewelry.

The actress has a dog named Birdie, whose photos she regularly shares on her social networks.

Lily Gladstone Now

Lily Gladstone's role as Mollie in "Killers of the Flower Moon" brought the actress unprecedented success. In early 2024, she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and was nominated for an Oscar in the same category.

Gladstone then went on to work in the crime series "Under the Bridge," based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Rebecca Godfrey. The lead role went to Riley Keough, while Lily was cast as Cam Bentland, one of the few women of color in the Victoria state police in Canada.

Another interesting project, produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Reed Morano, is the sci-fi drama "Memory Police," in which Lily plays one of the central roles. Anticipating the questions of fans, the actress said in an interview:

Charlie Kaufman is working on the adaptation of the novel (by Japanese author Yoko Ogawa). It's science fiction, but in the sense typical of his previous films. The action takes place in the subconscious, and the plot touches on memory and authoritarianism. It's a story that could happen anywhere. I think anyone who belongs to a global culture or history where systematic attempts have been made to erase your sense of who you are, your memories, your language, your culture, will understand what I mean.

Interesting Facts

After filming "Killers of the Flower Moon," Leonardo DiCaprio became a true fan of his co-star. He repeatedly called her incredibly talented, and described working with her as one of the best moments of his life. DiCaprio also highly appreciated Lily's active work with several non-profit organizations that address issues of the Native American community.

At the Golden Globe Awards ceremony in early 2024, Gladstone delivered her speech in the Blackfoot language and dedicated the award to her parents and her tribe.

The premiere of "Killers of the Flower Moon" took place at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. The standing ovation lasted nearly ten minutes, and Gladstone was overwhelmed with emotion due to such a sincere and warm reception. The actress advises everyone to read not only the book of the same name as the film but also the novel "Pipe for February" by Charles Red Corn, which was set in the same era and whose elements were used in the movie.

Ethel Pate Journalist