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In a historic first, Daniela Vega, a Chilean actress, became the first transgender person to present at the Oscars.
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“I feel very honored to be part of this beautiful moment in history. I feel so, so happy," she said hours before presenting, according to W Magazine.
The 28-year old actor, from San Miguel, Santiago, Chile, also played the lead role in the Chilean film 'Una Mujer Fantastica,' or 'A Fantastic Woman' which took home the best foreign film award at the 2018 Oscars.
In the movie, Vega played the role of Marina, a transgender person who loses her older boyfriend, and faces discrimination while coping with the grief. The movie's director, Sebastián Lelio, first asked Vega to assume the role of an assistant.
"He asked to meet and there was an immediate trust and affection between us. He lived in Berlin at the time and I lived in Chile, so we e-mailed and we Skyped," she told W magazine about her first talks with director Sebastián Lelio.
"When we saw each other, we spent time together and had a great time. When he sent me the script for A Fantastic Woman that's when I realized he wanted me for the role."
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Vega is also a classically trained opera singer. "It was a self-discovery for me to move from imitating others to me growing to sing in my own voice. The opera was difficult and it felt like a personal conquest," she told the W Magazine during a 2017 interview.
"I truly appreciate that I'm getting a lot of love from the public, from everybody, from the media. But I respect those people who are activists, who are committed to changing the world and to having an impact from a legislative standpoint when it comes to the LGBT community," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
"But my, myself, I feel that I am an actress and that's my role."
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