How Emilia Pérez reconnected Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña to their roots

Emilia Pérez is set to premiere on Netflix on November 13, and it's a rollercoaster, cinematic experience that takes you on a unique journey. Directed by Jacques Audiard, this genre-blending, live-recording musical dives into themes of identity and transformation, following Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón), a cartel leader ready to live as her true self with the help of Rita (Zoe Saldaña). With a powerful Latino cast including Selena Gomez as "Jessi Del Monte," Adriana Paz as "Epifania," and Edgar Ramírez as "Gustavo," the film is buzzing for the Academy Awards and has already found success, winning the Cannes Jury Prize, and the four main actresses sharing the Best Actress Award.

HOLA! USA had the opportunity to talk to Saldaña and Gomez, who both shared the personal significance of the film. For Gomez, Emilia Pérez marks her first Spanish-speaking role—a chance to connect more deeply with her heritage, overcoming insecurities.

When we asked the actress if she had any reflections about her own identity playing Jessi, she responded, "A thousand percent. I think if anything, it made me pay attention to a lot of things that I think I lacked growing up. And it was that connection. I started working when I was seven, and most of my job has been in English," she shared.

Gomez, who is half Mexican on her dad's side, hopes it's not the last time she speaks Spanish, adding, "This was really necessary for me to do and to get in touch with, and I hope that this isn't the last thing that I do in Spanish. I would love to take care of that and nurture that side of me more."

Meanwhile, Saldaña returns to her dance roots. The actress, who was a dancer as a little girl with dreams of one day being a ballerina, broke into Hollywood with her 2000 film Center Stage. "Oh my God, I felt like coming home, like reconnecting with a part of me that I felt I purposely put to sleep. I embarked on this new journey," she told HOLA! about the experience.

"I was able to carry the skills that I had from dance into roles like Neytiri in Avatar and Cataleya in Colombiana. But, you know, after becoming a mom, the yearning to go back and do that was just like evergreen. I never imagined that it was going to come in the form of Jacques Audiard and Emilia Pérez. So it was a lot of fun," she continued.

The 46-year-old admitted that she was a little worried she wouldn't be able to move the same way. "I didn't know if I could pull it off, you know? You kind of have to talk to your body and go, 'You're with me here, you got this,' or you start doing your warm-up and then realize, ‘Let me go warm up a little more,’ because you’re feeling a little out of shape," she shared.

Saldaña found the energy by connecting to Rita's psyche, finding her power. "But it's by being in Rita's headspace and listening to what Rita is really thinking and what she has to say that sort of energy comes from. It dictates how she's going to move and what she's going to do because everything comes with a precision dictated by her thoughts." This sharp precision is something her co-star Ramírez gushed about in our interview, comparing her dancing to "like a blade."

"And that's something you never get to see because Rita is not like Emilia; she's a person who lives more inside than outside. She’ll never have the courage to speak up and be bold and courageous like Emilia. So only when you have these breaths of dance and song do you really get to understand, 'Oh my gosh, she's cynical, she's upset, she's really judgmental, and she's coming, man. She’s coming for everybody,' and it was a great release to do that," she shared.

Emilia Pérez is a film you should watch knowing as little as possible about the plot to get the entire experience. Not to give away too much, but Saldaña becomes a protective figure for Jessi. During this press tour, a clip from an interview went viral after an interviewer asked Gomez about a line in the film.

After Gomez laughed nervously and responded, Saldaña jumped in and made the situation less awkward for her co-star. When we asked Saldaña where that protective nature comes from with Gomez, she explained, "I think I've always been that way. You know, my grandmother used to call me 'malcriada' when I was little. It just meant that I was—you've heard of that? When you're little, you’re ashamed to be called that because you think, 'Oh my God, I'm always going against the grain.' But what I later learned about myself is that I do have a strong sense of justice. When I love, I love all the way, and I am loyal. See, loyalty has nothing to do with being right or wrong. You’re loyal; you have your person’s back and then ask questions later."

"I don’t know what the context of the question was. I just felt that it made her feel uncomfortable because it was completely out of character. So, to sort of reshape the tone, yes, I guess I do that every day with my kids and for my kids and for everybody else that I love and respect. So it's not something I think about; it just really comes out," she explained, to which Gomez responded, "Well, it’s deeply, deeply appreciated."