Selena Gomez relieved focus on ‘Emilia Perez’, not personal life
Selena Gomez said that she was relieved focus had shifted to her role in the new Mexican cartel musical ‘Emilia Perez’ rather than her personal life, the singer said on Sunday
Selena Gomez said that she was relieved focus had shifted to her role in the new Mexican cartel musical “Emilia Perez” rather than her personal life, the singer said on Sunday. “It’s a relief. I’d rather somebody say I did a terrible job than talk about my personal life. So, I feel very proud,” Gomez said at the Cannes Film Festival a day after the premiere of the film, which received a standing ovation for nine minutes. The former Disney star added that she made up just a small part of the “incredible masterpiece” that is “Emilia Perez,” which also stars Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon.
The film directed by Jacques Audiard about a Mexican drug lord who transitions from male to female and starts a nonprofit dedicated to finding the bodies of disappeared people, is in the running for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’or.
Gomez, who also co-stars with Steve Martin and Martin Short in the Hulu streaming series “Only Murders in the Building,” is the most-followed woman on Instagram with 428 million followers. Such a large following puts her life under intense public scrutiny and generates headlines that speculate about her personal relationships as well as mental and physical health. The singer who has posted candidly about having lupus and bipolar disorder told broadcaster NBC’S “Today” show this month that she has decided to limit comments on her account to only friends as a way to set boundaries.
On paper, Jacques Audiard’s buzzed-about Cannes Film Festival entry “Emilia Perez” would not seem anything like a good idea for a movie. The film, which premiered on Saturday in Cannes, is probably the first movie that can sincerely be compared to both “Sicario” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” - and that’s just a start. Zoe Saldaña stars as Rita, a Mexico City lawyer hired by the cartel kingpin Manitas to help him flee Mexico for gender confirmation surgery. This turns out to be the beginning of a relationship that will continue between Rita and Emilia Perez (Karla Sofía Gascón). Emilia returns years later, posing as Manitas’ sister, to stay close to her children who are living with her ex-wife (Selena Gomez).
Also, it’s a musical. As gonzo as its premise may be, or possibly because of it, “Emilia Perez” gave Cannes a mid-festival jolt. Though not every critic has swooned for its melodramatic grandeur, there was applause even after the film’s press screening. “It occurred to me as a kind of opera,” Audiard told reporters Sunday. Audiard, the protean French filmmaker of “A Prophet,” “Rust and Bone” and the 2015 Cannes Palme d’or winner “Dheepan,” said the idea first occurred to him while reading a novel with a chapter about a narco trafficker who wanted to change his identity. From that starting point, Audiard built a shifting narrative worthy of a telenovela. “To get into this kind of film by Jacques, you have to be like Jacques, who’s a bit mad,” said Gascón, laughing.