A New Song for Selena
In Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, Selena Gomez brings heart to a hard world with a role unlike any she’s played before.
Photography courtesy Netflix
If there is a weight to bear under the persistent gaze of 423 million followers, Selena Gomez carries it with an inspiring ease.
As the most-followed woman on Instagram, in an era when data too often dictates artistic decisions, Gomez relies on something more stubbornly immeasurable than shares or likes. She goes with her gut.
John Hoffman, showrunner and co-creator of Only Murders in the Building — the breakthrough Hulu hit starring Gomez along with comedic legends Martin Short and Steve Martin — has witnessed this firsthand. Considering he’s worked with Gomez more than most over the past few years, it means something when he proclaims, “I couldn’t love her more!”
From his home in Palm Springs, near the south end of Indian Canyons, Hoffman continues, “She’s the subject of so much fascination for hundreds of millions of people, yet she’s self-effacing, respectful, and honors the people she works with. She is a titan in the business world, but she’s always finding ways to learn more about herself and her own artistic interests.”
Eager to see her latest project, the genre-bending Netflix musical Emilia Pérez, Hoffman isn’t the least bit surprised by early buzz, which began with the four leading women — Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Gomez, and Adriana Paz — sharing the award for Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival.
“The surprise with her is that even on the gigantic scale that she lives her life, she is entirely committed to the minute details of the work we do each and every day on set,” Hoffman says. “She does not miss a beat.”
Gomez transforms as Jessi Del Monte, a young American woman entangled in the web of the Mexican cartel. After her husband, a notorious drug lord, fakes his death, she mourns the loss while rebuilding life for their two children.
COURTESY NETFLIX
Emilia Pérez defies expectations, especially if you’re one of the millions who are committed to the minute details of the life of Selena Gomez. In the film, Gomez plays Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery. There’s singing. There’s dancing. Except, at times, it’s not quite a musical; some songs are recitative, like dialogue with only a hint of melody. French auteur Jacques Audiard developed the concept after abandoning his original plan to write it as an opera.
The subject matter reaches operatic heights of melodrama but manages to avoid trappings of cliché. When Jessi’s husband employs a lawyer (Saldaña) to help him fake his death and arrange surgery abroad, Jessi rekindles a romance with an old flame (Édgar Ramírez). By the time she catches up to the truth and recognizes her former spouse (Gascón), tragedy has already taken root. A wild ride of empowerment and redemption, the picture examines radical transformations of body and mind. Gomez hasn’t appeared in a feature this brazenly challenging to her fanbase since Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers (2012).
This month, Palm Springs International Film Festival will honor Emilia Pérez with the Vanguard Award, collectively recognizing director and cast. “It explores important themes of identity and the complexities of being a woman in today’s society,” festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi says. “The award is a recognition of the film’s message — knowing your identity and your true self. It’s an exceptional film.”
Gomez relishes the opportunity to celebrate the accolades in Palm Springs.
“That’s where I go to just be and enjoy life,” Gomez says. “It’s so different from Los Angeles. To have our film celebrated there makes me so proud.”
Originally from Texas, Gomez grew up in the spotlight. In 2002, at age 10, she joined the cast of Barney & Friends for 13 episodes. Her breakout moment came when she landed her own Disney Channel series, starring as a rebellious young wizard in Wizards of Waverly Place. “I just did a Wizards of Waverly Place reboot for Disney; that’s something my little sister can watch, and I’m so proud of that,” she says.
Like many of her fellow Disney alums, Gomez pursued a career in pop music, winning two VMAs, a Billboard Music Award, and an American Music Award, along with two Grammy nominations. As an actor, critically acclaimed projects like Only Murders in the Building and Selena + Chef, a cooking show on HBO Max, have established Gomez as a versatile force in her adult career.
She became one of the world’s youngest self-made female billionaires last year, propelled largely by the success of Rare Beauty, her cruelty-free cosmetics line launched in 2020. Alongside Rare Beauty, she established the Rare Impact Fund to support mental health organizations focused on youth — it’s an issue Gomez knows intimately. Her 2022 Apple TV+ documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, chronicles her journey toward healing amid struggles with fame, bipolar disorder, lupus, and the relentless pressures of stardom in the age of social media.
“I don’t know how she does it all,” Hoffmann says.
“I honor and respect where I came from,” Gomez emphasizes. And yet, she is eager to explore new facets of herself and the characters she portrays. “I’m not afraid of real stories that are going to stir people up, and it’s OK if some people are uncomfortable with the roles I choose. I want to … choose roles that people will think about and have conversations about.”
Singer-songwriter Camille and composer Clément Ducol crafted 16 original multilingual tracks for the movie, as well as its evocative score. Gomez performs in four of the songs, including the fiery punk rock anthem “Bienvenida,” shown being filmed here.
Fans expecting a traditional song-and-dance musical in Emilia Pérez will be met with something much more complex, nuanced, and challenging. It’s unlike anything Gomez has appeared in before. Does the idea that she might alienate some of her most ardent admirers ever cross her mind?
“You know what? I’m sure you’re right,” the 32-year-old admits. “Some people might be confused, but that makes it more interesting. Introducing a character that isn’t familiar to an audience doesn’t frighten me in any way. I’m not even interested in being the center of attention. In the film, Karla is our anchor, Zoe is the narrator — I was just happy and lucky enough to be part of this story that is so separate from anything I have done.”
Though Gomez claims it took a while to secure the role (“It was torture for months trying to figure out if I had the part or not,” she says), Audiard knew she was perfect from the moment they met.
“Once I met Selena, I immediately told myself that she would play the part of Jessi,” the director insists. “Jessi had a whole story — a young American woman living on the border who belongs to American culture and tries and fails to slip into Mexican culture. The character I’d written in the original treatment was much harder, more cynical. Selena softened the character. She made her more moving. She’s torn because she belongs to another culture, because she loved a man who ultimately left her. She’s fragile. That was brought to this film by Selena.”
“That’s nice of him to say,” Gomez says, laughing. “But I didn’t believe him when he told me [he knew I was the one right away].”
Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Gomez, and Adriana Paz (not pictured) shared the Best Actress honor at Cannes — a recognition traditionally awarded to a single performer and never before given to an ensemble of women.
PHOTO BY Ruvén Afanador, courtesy netflix
At the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala, Jan. 3, the cast and director of Emilia Peréz will receive the Vanguard Award, a group honor saluting their collective work on the project.
PHOTO BY Ruvén Afanador, courtesy netflix
“I have a theory, which I will share with you,” Audiard says. “Every film has a purpose: a purpose cinematically but also a purpose for those who work on it. For an actor, it can change his or her life. I think Emilia Pérez has been a useful experience for Selena. Are her followers going to follow her into this experience? I don’t know, because I don’t know them. But she told me just yesterday that this film has changed her life. … I think it’s going to affect her choices going forward.”
The ambitions of Audiard’s screenplay are not lost on Gomez, and it’s a testament to the power of the story and his careful direction of these four formidable women (each of whom could carry a production on their own) that even Cannes decided not to parse out the ensemble and chose to celebrate the quartet as a whole. But if you ask any of the actors, Karla Sofía Gascón emerged as the North Star, whose presence allowed everyone on set to tell the story truthfully, and more importantly, authentically.
“I did feel a sense of responsibility,” Gascón admits. “I only know my journey firsthand. Every person has their own experience with transition. I shared my perspective, but I had the opportunity to learn from [castmates] too — every person is their own world. I played an important role, but I wasn’t the only source of inspiration.”
Emilia Pérez marks another bold undertaking for Netflix, where the film is now available to stream after a brief theatrical run. It’s easy to imagine a casual fan scrolling on a Friday evening, drawn to a new musical and pressing play. For those who stick with it, the piece delivers an experience that upends assumptions — not only about Selena Gomez but also about what a movie musical can be. And so far, so good. The film earned a record 10 nominations at the Golden Globes in the musical/comedy category, including one for Gomez’s performance in a supporting role.
“There couldn’t be a more perfect time for this film,” Gomez concludes. “It is such a true representation of what women are capable of — of how powerful women can be. These women are mothers, they are fighters for justice in compromising situations. All of this is so relevant right now. I couldn’t be prouder to be a Latin woman and to be a part of this story with an incredible lead actress who I hope makes history.”
