Lily Gladstone's Oscar prediction: From 'most likely to win' in high school to actual nominee

The American Film Academy announced the nominations for the 96th edition of the Oscars on Tuesday, January 23rd. The award ceremony will be held on March 10. "Oppenheimer" holds the record for the most nominations (13), closely followed by "Poor Creatures" (11) and "Time of the Bloody Moon" (10). Gladstone is up for Best Leading Actress, making her the first Native American woman to be nominated in an acting category.

Intriguingly, Gladstone's friends had anticipated her professional trajectory. A picture featuring Gladstone with a friend, Josh Ryder, from their high school year-end commemorative book resurfaced recently. The caption above their picture reads, "Most likely to win an Oscar."

In an interview with USA Today, Gladstone shared that Leonardo DiCaprio had texted her the high school photo following the announcement of her nomination. Gladstone also mentioned Ryder's support during this movie awards season and mentioned they still keep in touch.

"I don't know if you know this, but all your amazing accomplishments have united our entire class. They're organizing a party for the Oscar ceremony. They've already planned for it to occur in our old theater hall in high school," the 37-year-old actress recalled Ryder telling her.

Speculation suggests that Gladstone has a fair chance of winning the award. Her primary competition is Emma Stone, who has captivated audiences with her impressive performance in "Poor Creatures".