And the Oscar Goes To...15 Latino Oscar Contenders!

Jenni Rivera, Filly Brown

The late Jenni Rivera could be this award season’s Heath Ledger, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar posthumously for his role in The Dark Knight. La Diva de la Banda’s made her film debut in this year’s Sundance Film Festival darling Filly Brown, portraying the incarcerated and drug-addicted mother of an aspiring L.A. rapper. Her co-star, Edward James Olmos, calls her performance Oscar-worthy. "Jenni was just an amazing force. From the very beginning I've said that she could garner an Academy Award for her work in Filly Brown,” said Olmos. “She had a tough life, but she also had an extraordinary gift. She touched millions of people and she'll be missed."