Selena Gomez & Zoe Saldaña Explain Why They Weren't Worried About Hitting The Right Note In Emilia Pérez (2024)

After a highly successful run on the festival circuit and a short but fruitful theatrical run, Emilia Pérez is coming to Netflix on November 13. Part musical and part crime thriller, the genre-defying project was written and directed by visionary auteur Jacques Audiard. Karla Sofía Gascón portrays the titular protagonist, who begins the film as Manitas, a cartel leader feared throughout Mexico who hopes to leave the blood-soaked life of a drug dealer upon transitioning.

The brilliant but disgruntled lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) becomes Emilia's confidante in this process, inspiring and facilitating a new leaf that goes far beyond gender reassignment surgery. Together, Emilia and Rita begin a project to recover the remains of those who fell victim to cartel violence, all while Emilia tries to reconnect with her ex-wife Jessi (Selena Gomez showing a new and exciting side to her talent) and kids without revealing her identity. The narrative is punctuated and animated by musical numbers, but the end result is unlike any musical in recent years.

ScreenRant interviewed Saldaña & Gomez about what a shock to the system Emilia Pérez was, how the songs in the musical movie differed from other projects in the genre, and why the relationship between Rita and Emilia was so relatable outside of the story's extreme circumstances.

Emilia Pérez Was An Experience Unlike Any Other For Zoe Saldaña & Selena Gomez

“I felt like I could reconnect to a part of myself that got buried in all of my other work.”

Screen Rant: Zoe, this movie is a fascinating experience on every level, and I cannot help but wonder how it was presented to you. How did Jacques Audiard describe it?

Zoe Saldaña: It was a conversation that took at least an hour and a half on Zoom because it is not just something that you can explain in two sentences, and it was Jacues that was saying it. Jacques is a very eloquent and intelligent, intellectual man, so when he's talking I tend to only understand half of what he's saying because he's using big words and he's very sophisticated. But I felt it; I felt that it was special.

Screen Rant: Selena, Jessi such an interesting character with many hidden layers, and it's the first time I've heard you speak almost all in Spanish for a role. What was that experience like for you? How did you step into her?

Selena Gomez: Wonderful. I think it was something I was always eager to do and something I was dying to do, and I was beyond myself. I was very humbled. I felt like I could reconnect to a part of myself that I feel got buried in all of my other work. So, this was really a special moment for me.

The Musical Numbers In Emilia Pérez Are About Each Character’s State Of Mind

“…It was never about hitting that note.”

Screen Rant: Neither of you are strangers to song, but the musical numbers in this movie are so unique because they really are about expressing the emotions rather than belting out notes. How did you each approach that aspect?

Zoe Saldaña: I think it was understanding the state of mind where they were. And you're right, it was never about hitting that note. [Selena] said something in one of the Q&As that you love that it was just so raw... and that's exactly what it was.

Yes, we recorded it in the studio, but Jacques always told us, "I want to shoot the live version when we're shooting on set because I do believe that we're going to capture something really special." Once you go through the journey of a scene, and you're in the emotional state of your character, then that defines the tone of your voice. We were surprising ourselves a lot.

Selena Gomez: Yeah, beautiful. It was a wonderful experience.

Screen Rant: You had the extra special karaoke scene with Edgar Ramirez that he said he wasn't originally going to sing in. How did that come about and how did you guys really bring that chemistry?

Selena Gomez: It was so much fun because we kind of just winged it, so it was really sweet. We were pretending that we were singing karaoke, and then he was like, "We want to get some live." [Edgar] just started to sing with me, and it was clumsy and cute and romantic and sexy. It was fun.

Screen Rant: Obviously, one of the biggest relationships in the movie is yours with Emilia. Can you talk about working with Karla and how they changed each other's lives so much?

Zoe Saldaña: Jacques touched base today at the conference about the fact that this film has so many contradicting feelings coming together; clashing together. I feel like Rita and Emilia are polar opposites. Emilia is a rule breaker, and Rita's a rule maker. Rita is inflicted by fear, and Emilia's ignited by adventure and life, but they need each other.

Without Rita, Emilia would've never been able to accomplish time and time again what was so important for her to do. And Rita needed to be around someone like Emilia — someone bold and not audacious and provocative — to really ignite a fire in her to make her believe that she was deserving of love and family. Understanding that relationship immediately reminded me of so many women that I grew up, [whom I] wanted to be like and wanted to be near to. And myself as well; all the things that I kind of want to work on myself.

More About Emilia Pérez (2024)

From renegade auteur Jacques Audiard comes Emilia Pérez, an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self. Written and directed by Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet), the double Cannes-winning film also stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Édgar Ramírez.

Check out our other Emilia Pérez interviews here:

• Karla Sofía Gascón
• Edgar Ramírez
• Adriana Paz

Source: Screen Rant Plus

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9/10

9.5/10

Emilia Perez

R

Crime

Drama

Comedy

Music

Emilia Perez is a drama film that follows the life of Emilia Perez, a determined and ambitious individual striving to make a name for herself in a competitive environment. The story explores her journey as she navigates the challenges and obstacles that come her way, all while uncovering the complexities of her own identity.

Director

Jacques Audiard

Release Date

November 13, 2024

Studio(s)

Why Not Productions , Saint Laurent , Page 114 , Pathé , France 2 Cinéma , LPI Media , Pimienta Films , The Veterans

Writers

Jacques Audiard , Thomas Bidegain , Léa Mysius

Cast

Karla Sofía Gascón , Zoe Saldana , Selena Gomez , Adriana Paz , Edgar Ramirez , Mark Ivanir , Eduardo Aladro , Emiliano Edmundo Hasan Jalil , James Gerard , Eric Geynes , Agathe Bokja , Chun-Ting Lin , Stéphane Ly-Cuong , Line Phé , Pascal Toussirot , Karla Lazo

Character(s)

Emilia / Manitas , Rita , Jessi , Epifania , Gustavo Brun , Wasserman , Berlinger , Gabriel Mendoza , London City Boy , Thai nurse , Medical Staff , Thai Surgeon

Runtime

130 Minutes

Budget

26885000.0

Main Genre

Crime