Tiffany Haddish just went from an awards-season hopeful to a serious contender. On Thursday, the New York Film Critics Circle named her this year’s best-supporting actress for her breakout performance in the summer blockbuster Girls Trip, handing her the honor over potential front-runners like Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya). Though Haddish has received considerable praise in the last few months, the N.Y.F.C.C. win marks her first award for her performance in Girls Trip as Dina, a firecracker who kicks up trouble in New Orleans.

Haddish has been on the ascent since the raunchy comedy hit theaters this past July. She’s hosted Saturday Night Live, announced a stand-up tour and an upcoming book of personal essays, and has landed roles in two major studio comedies. Though the actress has been working for quite a few years, it wasn’t until Girls Trip that fans and critics alike pinpointed her as a star to watch.

Her raucous performance has also inspired serious awards-season chatter, the kind that’s typically reserved for dramatic actresses in prestige pictures. Though the New York Film Critics Circle is an insular voting body that doesn’t overlap with those who pick contenders for ceremonies like the Golden Globes and the Oscars, it seems likely that her buzz, newly bolstered by this best-supporting actress award, could reinvigorate voters in other groups to throw their weight behind Haddish. She’s quickly on her way to becoming a household name, aided by the fact that Girls Trip was a roaring financial success, picking up $137 million worldwide. From this vantage point, it seems likely that she’s going to pick up a few more nods before the year is done, including perhaps a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in the comedy category. (Maybe they should start engraving her name on that statuette now.) The Academy Awards will be a trickier game, considering how reluctant the voting body has been historically to reward comedic actresses; the last pure comedy performance to actually land a nod was Melissa McCarthy, for her supporting role in 2011’s Bridesmaids.

Comedy bias aside, Haddish is also one of few women of color to land considerable awards chatter this year. There’s already early concern that the #OscarsSoWhite debacle that has plagued the Academy in recent years could rear its head again when the Oscar noms are revealed in January. While there are a few possible contenders—including Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), Hong Chau (Downsizing), Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water)—none has been lavished with the same amount of enthusiasm as Haddish this year. All the more reason for awards-season circles to climb aboard the Haddish train now.