Kristen Stewart Wins a French Oscar—and Even She Looked Stunned to Be the First American Woman to Win a César!

Actress wins for her supporting role in Sils Maria

By Natalie Finn Feb 21, 2015 12:32 AMTags
Kristen Stewart, Cesar Awards BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images

Out of the way, MTV Movie Award popcorn and Teen Choice surfboards.

Kristen Stewart is a César winner now!

On Friday she won Best Supporting Actress at the 40th César Film Awards for her role in the psychological dramaClouds of Sils Maria, becoming the first American actress to win France's equivalent of an Oscar. Her nomination alone made her the first American woman to be in the running for the honor in 30 years.

So yes, modern cinematic history was just made—and even Stewart looked stunned, her hand instantly covering her mouth (which we can only imagine was forming a good-natured expletive).

The visibly startled actress gave a little thumbs-up and got a congratulatory hug from Sils co-star Juliette Binoche before making her way to the stage. (Binoche was up for Best Actress but lost out to Les CombattantsAdèle Haenel.)

"OK, here we go," Stewart began her acceptance speech, nervously unfolding her notes. "I can't even move my hands."

But then she took a deep breath and even said a few thank-yous in French before proceeding in English, Binoche and director Olivier Assayas smiling broadly at her from the audience.

Kristy Sparow/Getty Images

Timbuktu, which is also nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar, was named Best Picture and won the night overall, conquering in seven out of the eight categories it was nominated in. Saint-Laurent, a biopic about famed fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, was the most nominated film of the night but only collected one César, for Best Costumes, at the Theatre de Chatelet in Paris.

Other top-notch Hollywood talent in the crowd tonight included Marion Cotillard, who we'll be seeing at the Oscars on Sunday, and Charlize Theron and Sean Penn.

AP Photo/Thibault Camus