Selena Gomez is praising her “Emilia Pérez” cast for creating a safe space on set.
At the Los Angeles premiere of the highly anticipated film, the Emmy-nominated actress gushed over her cast for helping her take her character to a new level.
“If anything they helped me create this character even more,” she told Access Hollywood’s Scott Evans. “They were so helpful, and nurturing and I was very nervous…but they made me feel safe and that was important.”
When it came to doing the project, Selena told Access she’s always wanted to work with the director, Jacques Audiard.
“I was a huge fan of Jacques Audiard, the director, and how he tells stories. He tells them in all languages, and I wanted to work with him, then I read the script, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh how is this going to get made,’ and he just brought that vision into reality, and it was remarkable and as an actor it was a dream to work with,” she said.
Her co-star Zoe Saldana also raved over working on the film, admitting it helped her reconnect with a side of her she’d lost touch with.
“When you do what you love the work that takes place and to put it together, it’s not that it’s easy but it’s absolutely rewarding,” she said. “It gave me an opportunity to reconnect with a side of me that I have not reconnected with for a very long time. I started as a dancer, I’m from New York, so you know I’m born with jazz hands, and I’ve had to un-jazz my hands throughout the years.”
She also talked about doing a movie that was mainly in Spanish and sharing her native language with audiences.
“To be able to go back to that and use my native language, it just felt so beautiful. It felt amazing,” she said. “[It felt] like a side of me that I haven’t been able to share. I’m a first generation. I’m a daughter of immigrants. This is the double life I’ve been living that to me is just normal and I’m just happy that I get to show it through my art, I get to share it.”
“Emilia Pérez” premieres in select theaters Nov. 1 and on Netflix Nov. 13.