The 37-year-old actress became the first Native American to be nominated for an Academy Award for her depiction of Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese's movie and has no hard feelings about missing out on the prize to Poor Things star Emma Stone.
"That's just the whole thing of award campaigns and the competitive nature of pitting art against art," Gladstone told Empire magazine.
"Clearly this film, in this moment, had meaning - it did its job."
Lily Gladstone starred in Killers of the Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. (AP PHOTO)
A jury member at the 77th Cannes international film festival in France, Gladstone said nobody was upset that she had not won.
"I feel like when the Golden Globes happened (where she won the best actress in a motion picture drama gong), a lot of people who are very far away from the industry just kind of thought it was the Oscars," she said.
"It's about the fact that (the film has) been awarded and it's historic, and it's still just a really meaningful moment.
"So it's irrelevant whether or not I walked home with that statue in hand."
Gladstone, who formed a close rapport with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio while working on Scorsese's film, thinks a positive atmosphere on set is always beneficial for a picture.
"One of the things about great directors is that they know how to cast people or intuit that people will have a certain rapport or chemistry," the Fancy Dance star said.
"There are days on set where I need to be fully immersed in my character, or the mood, or I'm going to get completely knocked off my horse.
"But by and large I kind of like saving it for the camera.
"So I like to have fun on set and it's important that it be a positive place and camaraderie forms."