by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For Zoe Saldana, whose parents were Spanish-speaking immigrants to the U.S., finally getting the opportunity to play a Spanish-speaking Latina role in her latest film, “Emilia Pérez,” is special.
She said, “The moment I started this career in cinema, I rarely had the opportunity to play a full-on Latina who could speak in Spanish continuously in a story.”
“And I was longing for that.”
“Emilia Pérez” is a musical crime and comedy film written and directed by French director Jacques Audiard, taking place mostly in Mexico City.
Based on Audiard’s opera libretto of the same name, “Emilia Perez” was released in the UK and Ireland last week and will arrive in US and Canadian theaters on Friday. It will stream on Netflix on November 13.
In the film, Saldana plays a tired lawyer stuck in a dysfunctional job who convinces drug cartel leader Juan “Manitas” del Monte, played by Carla Sofia Gascón, to fake his death and Helps to transform from man to woman named Emilia Perez.
The cast also includes singer Selena Gomez as Jessie Del Monte, the cartel leader’s wife.
For Gomez, playing the role of Jessie helped her connect her culture and her career in a new way.
“It’s a big part of my life that I didn’t feel connected to for a while, just because I started working at age 7 and most of my jobs were in English,” Gomez said.
“So, I really thought it was important.”
Similarly, as a transgender woman, Gascón felt that portraying Emilia required an authentic approach.
She recalled that Audiard had said that Emilia needed to become her own person, separate from Juan.
He said, “I told them that if we play these characters so differently, differently, people won’t believe it’s real. So, what we did was to act as Manitas as Manitas. , had to act as Emilia, as Emilia.”
“Think of it as a chef who adds ingredients, manitas and Emilia’s ingredients.”
Recognizing the cultural richness of Mexico City and leaning into the talent of Latina actors, Audiard found himself on what he called a “collective adventure” with everyone working on the film.
He said, “It was brand new, we had never made a musical.”
He added, “We had singing, we had dancing, we had dialogue, we had sets, and it was all at the same time, and it was exhilarating.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
