A star aligns

If you’re from Montana, or once lived in Montana, or maybe even just vacationed in Montana, chances are you’re not only rooting for actor Lily Gladstone this awards season, but you’re also saying things like, “I knew Lily when …”

Their alma mater is doing it. Lily’s former employer is doing it. Everyone and their mother is posting about it on Facebook. The recent Golden Globe-winner and surefire Oscar nominee is exactly the sort of success story Montanans—heck, anyone—love to embrace. Genuine, humble, true to her roots and preternaturally talented, Lily seems perfect for this historic moment in the spotlight.

Their acceptance speech at the Globes only reinforced this belief.

I can’t help but get caught up in the hype. My wife taught Lily during their time at the University of Montana. I reviewed their early stage work when they were an undergrad and later readings as part of the Montana Colony. I interviewed Lily when they made their big screen debut in the locally produced Winter in the Blood. (Editor’s note: IMDB claims Jimmy P, starring Benicio del Toro, was released prior to Winter in the Blood, but I’d swear the adaptation of James Welch’s novel hit Missoula screens first.) In 2016, Lily shined in Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, so it came as little surprise to enthusiastic locals when Martin Scorsese chose Lily to be the emotional center of this year’s epic historical drama Killers of the Flower Moon.

If anything, those of us who’ve followed Lily’s work the last 15 or so years have only wondered what took others so long to notice. And we’re more than happy to bring those folks up to speed, starting with something along the lines of, “I knew Lily when …”

(Pictured up top: Lily on the cover of the Missoula Independent’s final issue of 2007, celebrating the year in photos. I was the arts editor at the time and still remember advocating for this stunning image by Sarah Daisy Lindmark to grace the cover, but for the life of me I can’t recall in what production Lily performed in that year. Lily also appeared on the Indy’s cover almost exactly 10 years later, following the success of Certain Women, in an interview with Erika Fredrickson. I’m stealing the headline for this post.)