Colombian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno was nominated Tuesday for a best actress Academy Award for her role in "Maria Full of Grace."

ADVERTISEMENT

Reportedly ecstatic with her nomination, Moreno said she called her mother in Bogota from her California home when she heard the news of her nomination.

"We screamed, we cried, everything. It was a really big surprise," she said, El Tiempo newspaper reported in its online edition Tuesday.

"Maria Full of Grace" is the story of a 17-pregnant Colombian girl who leaves her rural home to become a drug mule -- someone who carries drugs on flights -- and heads to New York City.