Zoe Saldaña Gives Teary Shout Out to Her Sons in 2025 Critics Choice Awards Speech: 'My Greatest Adventure'

Zoe Saldaña is this year’s Critics Choice Award winner for best supporting actress in a movie.

For her work in Emilia Pérez, Saldaña accepted the trophy onstage at the Barker Hanger in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb. 7. Thanking her collaborators and supporters, she called the win an "incredible honor."

"To my fellow nominees, the films this year and the work you've all done. It's breathtaking," she said. "I will forever be proud to be among you. Thank you to all of you. I can't see you, but you f---ing rock."

She added: "Whenever you receive a negative criticism for a role or a film, everyone says, 'Don't read the reviews.' Then when you get the positive feedback, everyone says, 'Did you read the reviews?' But I appreciate the role of a critic. I do sometimes. I sometimes read the reviews and I internalize it, especially the really insightful and helpful feedback, like, 'Her crying is really distracting. She's in too many franchises,' or my personal favorite, 'She's too blue.' So I will listen to you all tonight, and I will accept this with pride. Thank you."

"To think that Emilia Pérez has been the little movie that could and has resonated with so many people has been an experience worth having," Saldaña continued, going on to praise those she loves most: "Thank you to my family, especially my incredible husband and my nephew, who is with me tonight. You made me, me. So thank you, and to my boys, my greatest adventure and my toughest critics. I love you. My wish for the impact of this film on audiences in our world is that I hope we can all be curious and open hearted towards each other, because you never know when you'll have the opportunity to be a hero, and someone else's story. So, our world is too big and too beautiful to be any other way so stay curious, stay kind and stay blue, not too blue."

Related: 2025 Critics Choice Awards Nominations: Wicked and Conclave Lead Film Nominees

Also nominated in the category by the Critics Choice Association were Danielle Deadwyler for The Piano Lesson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for Nickel Boys, Ariana Grande for Wicked: Part One, Margaret Qualley for The Substance and Isabella Rossellini for Conclave.

Before its Chelsea Handler-hosted ceremony, broadcasting live on E!, the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards announced its film nominations on Dec. 12, with Conclave and Wicked leading at 11 nominations each. Dune: Part Two and Emilia Pérez followed with 10 each.

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Deadwyler, 42, brought The Piano Lesson its only Critics Choice nomination, honored for her work as Berniece, a Pittsburgh-based mother who refuses to sell her family's piano. The Netflix adaptation of the August Wilson play also counts Denzel Washington as a producer, his son Malcolm as co-writer and adapter and eldest son John David as Boy Willie, Berniece's brother.

The Piano Lesson has meant a return for Deadwyler, last honored for her acclaimed work as Mamie Till-Mobley in the 2022 biopic Till, back to the Gotham Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards and more.

No stranger to the Critics Choice Awards, Ellis-Taylor, 55, has earned three nods in four years: for her Oscar-nominated work in King Richard, drama series Justified: City Primeval and now Nickel Boys. Her supporting performance as Hattie in the latter, director RaMell Ross’ adaptation of the Colson Whitehead historical novel about real-life abusive reform schools, has topped the lists of regional critics groups.

“We have the power to give these children a voice, to grieve for them, and in that grieving become active in making it right,” Ellis-Taylor told PEOPLE. Nickel Boys, she said, is “our shot, our chance doing for these children what no one did, which was hear them.”

Related: Why Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Resists Stereotypes and Only Wears Pants on Red Carpets: ‘I've Made Choices’ (Exclusive)

The Grammy-winning Grande, 31, charmed the critics with her turn as bubbly Glinda, the future Good Witch, in the Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked, director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. She stars opposite Cynthia Erivo, who is nominated in the lead actress category, as Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West.

The two-part adaptation (Part Two, titled Wicked: For Good) marks Grande’s first major film role. Along with her Critics Choice debut, she earned a first-time nomination at the Golden Globes and her second Screen Actors Guild Award nod, as well as a National Board of Review Spotlight Award for the "creative collaboration" between herself and Erivo.

Related: Ariana Grande Stocked Up on Pink Clothes 'in Case' She Landed Wicked: 'What Underwear Would Glinda Wear?' (Exclusive)

Horror-comedy hit The Substance features Qualley, 30, as Sue, the younger and unpredictable version of faded star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who generates Sue from her own body after injecting the titular mysterious serum.

Qualley previously told PEOPLE the film, from French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, was "really outside of my comfort zone." She added, "It's something I've really never done. I think I've intentionally gone the other direction throughout my career."

Related: Isabella Rossellini Says It 'Breaks My Heart' Younger Generation 'Doesn't Know' Her Famous Parents

As Vatican nun Sister Agnes in papal drama Conclave — making a memorable impact with little dialogue or screen time — Rossellini, 72, has earned her first-ever recognition from the Critics Choice Association. The Italian-born actress is also up for a Golden Globe and SAG Award this season for the performance opposite fellow contenders Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and more.

Fresh off a win at this year’s Golden Globes, Saldaña, 46, has been recognized by every major voting awards group for her work in Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez as Rita, a lawyer helping a Mexican drug cartel leader (played by Critics Choice nominee Karla Sofia Gascón) undergo her transition into a woman. The Guardians of the Galaxy star previously notched a Critics Choice nod in 2015 for her work in that Marvel movie.

Saldaña told PEOPLE last September about the "wonderful" bond between her Emilia Pérez costars. "There's so much love. There's so much respect. We're rooting for each other. We're happy for each other. We're fixing each other's makeup and wardrobes," she said. "We knew what it meant to us. And knowing that it's becoming something special to so many people is impactful."

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See PEOPLE's full coverage of the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards as they're broadcasting live on E! from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The show will also be available to stream the following day on Peacock.

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