JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Selena Gomez Reveals She 'Blacked Out' As She Danced 'Like A Mad Woman' During Emilia Pérez Audition
At the Los Angeles premiere of Emilia Pérez, Selena Gomez shared how she embraced a wild persona, acting like a crazy drunk woman to land her part in the film.
Selena Gomez was asked to go “crazy” by writer-director Jacques Audiard if she wanted the role of Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a cartel leader, in Emilia Pérez.
At the Los Angeles premiere of the movie on Monday, October 21, Gomez told The Hollywood Reporter that she had no idea about the concept Audiard was going for, except that he asked her to act drunk and throw her shoes if she wanted to. He, in Gomez’s words, said, “Just go crazy.” The actress’s reaction? Well, she just said OK and immersed herself in portraying the part she wanted in the film.
What Gomez performed for her audition was the character’s biggest scene: a musical number, Bienvenida, in which she let out her frustrations over her spouse’s new life as a trans woman, the titular Emilia Pérez, played by Spanish star Karla Sofia Gascon.
The Disney alum recalled in her interview with THR that after her first act during the audition, Audiard asked her to “go crazier,” and so she did. “I was standing on furniture, and I blacked out, but I was just singing my heart out and dancing like a mad woman—I guess a drunk mad woman—and it was a crazy experience." She added she was “honored” when he decided to ultimately go with her.
Emilia Pérez, which co-stars Zoe Saldana and Edgar Ramirez, received positive reviews at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it received a minutes-long standing ovation and nabbed both the Jury Prize and the Best Actress award for its female-centric ensemble. Gascon, 52, became the first openly trans actor to win a major prize there.
Per Netflix’s synopsis of the film, the “fearsome cartel leader” Emilia Pérez enlists the help of an “unappreciated lawyer” to fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self.
The movie features original songs composed by French pop star Camille, which are performed by the cast. When asked by the aforementioned outlet if she offered any vocal coaching to her co-stars, the Calm Down singer said they didn’t need it at all.
Regarding the project’s award prospects, Gomez said she didn’t want to be presumptuous. “I’m just going to say I’m so happy people are receiving it the way they are.”
Emilia Pérez, which was released in select theaters in the U.S. and Canada on November 1, will be on Netflix from November 13 onwards.
Latest Articles
