Lily Gladstone’s classmate from viral yearbook photo praises the Killers of the Flower Moon star

Lily Gladstone’s high school friend is rooting for her to fulfill a prophecy for the both of them.

Josh Ryder went to Mountlake Terrace High School, and was voted “Most Likely to Win an Oscar” by the 2004 senior class alongside the Killers of the Flower Moon star. After a yearbook photo of the two classmates went viral, Access Hollywood gave Ryder the opportunity to gush about her ascension.

“We are so proud of you. What a spectacular moment to get to see you on the rise,” Ryder said in a video that Gladstone watched on the red carpet. “And it’s been such a treat to be in your footnotes. To see you, I think, harness the power that we’ve always known that you had has been so cool. I think you’re just a class act.”

Ryder continued with a charge to his former classmate: take home gold on Oscar night. I’m not gonna win an Oscar, so you better go out and win two for us, and then maybe I can just have joint custody on the weekend,” he said. “So proud of you, nothing but love and respect for you. Go get ‘em.”

“Josh Ryder is my very good friend from high school who through all of this we’ve gotten a chance to reunite and hang out again,” Gladstone said after watching the video. She doesn’t share his skepticism about his own abilities, though: “I think maybe 2026 is the year of Josh Ryder.”

Gladstone became the first Indigenous winner of Best Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, and spoke a few phrases in Blackfeet language at the beginning of her speech to commemorate the historic win.

“Golden Globes knew what’s up, now it’s time for [The Academy] to follow,” Ryder wrote in his caption on Instagram. “Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet from my home girl; this is just the beginning. Go, Lily, go!”

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