Netflix launching ‘Selena: The Series’
Grammy-winning singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez died in 1995, at 23, at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas, shot by the president of her first fan club. Her unfinished album, “Dreaming of You,” topped the Billboard 200 three months later.
An artist who recorded mostly Tejano music — a fusion of corrido, mariachi and polka from South Texas — and who died on the verge of broader success, Selena is arguably as popular in 2020 as at any moment during her life. In her first hit song, “Como La Flor” (1992), she compares herself to a withering flower. But over 25 years after her death, Selena fandom continues to bloom.
On Friday, Netflix released the first part of “Selena: The Series,” nine episodes — of a planned 18 — that follow the singer’s tour bus-driven journey. A gentle show, tailored to the rhythms of a family dramedy, it takes Selena (Madison Taylor Baez as child Selena, Christian Serratos as the young adult) from baby crooner to bedazzled pop idol. Offering intimate details of her childhood and family life, the show portrays Selena as an American girl and a born superstar.
“This is not a documentary,” Suzette Quintanilla, Selena’s sister and an executive producer, said cheerfully. “It’s sprinkled with a little bit of glitter.”
Jaime Dávila, an executive producer on the series, spent his childhood in McAllen, Texas, listening to Selena’s songs.
“It’s been special my entire life, her story,” he said. A few years ago, a colleague introduced him to Suzette Quintanilla and they agreed to collaborate on Selena’s story. Dávila’s production company, Campanario, then pitched the series to Francisco Ramos, Netflix’s vice president for content for Latin America.
“They had a very, very good pitch,” he recalled, “which was, let’s do it as a family series, like if she were a normal person. But it turns out that she’s Selena.”
Selena received biographical treatment in a beloved 1997 movie that launched the career of Jennifer Lopez, which the family also authorized. But this version provides answers that have accumulated over the years. “Like, ‘How did this happen?’ or ‘How did this song get created?’ ” Quintanilla said. She shared stories and memorabilia with the writers, creating a series — with its scenes of hardship and shopping with food stamps — that feels less “sugarcoated” than the film.