Oscar 2022: why Emilio “El Indio” Fernández is said to have inspired the statuette

During the 2022 Oscar Awards ceremony all the emotions were experienced: joy, anger, sadness, melancholy, etc. There were also unforgettable moments and some memories that turned out to be interesting facts and myths for some of the spectators.

One of them was mentioned by Colombian actor John Leguizamo, who lent his voice to Bruno's character in the film Encanto, recalled the story that tells how Emilio was El Indio Fernández, a great Mexican actor and director, was the inspiration for the statuette that is presented to the winners.

Before presenting the act of the song “No talk about Bruno”, he said that “The winners are going to have 15 centimeters of Mexico at home”, as a reference to this myth that has been kept for decades in the mouth of the guild and the spectators.

“El Indio” Fernández was internationally recognized for his work, so he spent a period in Hollywood, since 1920, for several years to gain that experience and leave his mark on one of the most important stages for world cinema.

Thanks to this stay, and her friendship with Dolores del Río, rumors about the inspiration for the golden statuette started, as the actress was married to Cedric Gibbons, one of the founders of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, in charge of designing the award in 1928.

When she was doing it, it is said that when the time came a model was required, so the Mexican introduced Fernández, who supposedly accepted, undressed and was a key piece in forming this recognition.

Despite the fact that Mexican and Latino audiences were very proud to know that one of the best known actors had such a great contribution to US and world cinema, Academia denied the version.

“A stylized figure of a knight holding a crusader sword standing on a film reel with five radios representing the five original branches of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers). No model was used during the design process”, they placed on the official website.

Surely the hearts of many were broken when reading this description, but history will remain forever in the records of the ceremonies after this March 27, as well as in the memories of the people who will always support the version that “El Indio” Fernández was the true model of the statuette.

A Mexican who also stood out at this 94th Oscar Awards was E ugenio Derbez, who won the award for best film for his participation in the film CODA. From social networks he took the claps and the recognition of the spectators, so he decided to celebrate it at a distance with the Mexicans.

From his social networks he released an exciting message in the middle of the celebration of his triumph at the 2022 Oscar Awards. Visibly happy with the victory, he uploaded to social networks the video of the moment when Lady Gaga and Liza Minelli presented the category of best film, who revealed, after the opening of the envelope, that it was nothing less than CODA, the film where he participated.

“Long live Mexico!!! , tonight the winner was inclusion. Long live the art of cinema. CODA has shown that you can always make history, even without big names or budget, but putting all your heart into it,” were the words he wrote in the next publication.

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