Selena Gomez is defending her performance in the Netflix musical Emilia Pérez.
In the new film, which also stars Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón, Gomez, 32, portrays the former wife of a Mexican cartel boss. The Only Murders in the Building star, who took home the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress prize for the film. She portrays a bilingual character in the movie, but is not fluent in Spanish in real life.
The actor and producer Eugenio Derbez criticized Gomez’s role in the film on the Hablando de Cine podcast, on the ground that Gomez does not speak Spanish fluently, although her father is of Mexican descent. In the podcast, Derbez, in Spanish, calls Gomez’s work “indefensible.” The host, Gaby Meza, agreed, arguing that it felt to her as if Gomez did not know what she was saying. Both lamented that the film’s French director, Jacques Audiard, did not hire a Spanish-speaking actor for the role.
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Gomez saw a clip from the podcast on TikTok on Sunday and responded in the comments section, writing, “I understand where you are coming from..I’m sorry I did the best I could with the time I was given. Doesn’t take away from how much work and heart I put into this movie.”
The comment appears to have since been removed.
While many agreed with Derbez and Meza, others defended the 13 Reasons Why producer in the comments section, with many pointing out that Gomez’s character is from the United States and learned Spanish later in life. Others shared that they “loved” her performance and said “she did great.”
The Emilia Pérez role is Gomez’s first in a Spanish-speaking part, but she told Variety that she spoke Spanish at home until she was 7 and grew up embracing her Mexican heritage with her father’s side of the family. The Wizards of Waverly Place alum also brought Spanish into her music in 2021, when she released the EP Revelación.
In a November interview with NPR’s Fresh Air, Gomez shared that speaking Spanish was an important factor for her in taking on the role in Emilia Pérez. “I got my first job at 7, and most of my jobs from that point on were English,” she said at the time. “And I just lost [my Spanish]. That’s kind of the case for a lot of people, especially Mexican American people.
“I wish I just knew a lot more than I do. But I think that’s why I try to honor my culture as much as possible — from releasing an album in Spanish to wanting to pursue this movie,” Gomez added. “And I don’t think it’ll be the last thing I do in Spanish.”
