The actress Zoe Saldana has already given us so much – emotionally pivotal characters in three top-grossing film franchises, plus a long list of TV and film credits – that his role in the new thriller/musical hybrid “Emilia Perez” seems like the icing on the cake.
The star of “Avatar” acts, sings and even raps in “Pérez,” and does it all in Spanish, in his first major role in the language.
Saldaña — whose father was from the Dominican Republic and mother is Puerto Rican — told , in an interview published this week, that the opportunity to use her bilingual fluency “never really came up” before now.
“Either the project simply wasn’t right for me, or an Afro-Caribbean Latina was not suitable for the project,” said the actress.
“It’s a combination of the director’s vision, which you want to respect and honor, and on the other side, colonialism and colorismwhich are very strong in Latin America”, added Saldaña.
“I was very like, ‘Well, okay, I’m going to dance to my own beat, and I’m going to space, and I’m going to be green and blue. [nos filmes “” e ““, respectivamente]and I will do all these things’. Then 15 years pass, and I was looking forward to this reconnection.”
““, directed by Jacques Audiard and based on the 2018 novel “Écoute”, by Boris Razon, has as its starting point the story of Rita, played by Saldaña, an overworked and undervalued lawyer in Mexico who wins a case and finds herself involved in the business of a cartel boss.
The opening sequence alone is enough to indicate that “Pérez” is unlike any musical ever made, and is led by Saldaña, in elaborate sequences that intertwine reality and fantasy and involve teams of supporting actors and dancers.
In the film, the menacing cartel boss named Manitas asks Rita for help with a secret he has long kept private – your desire to transition to becoming a woman.
Performed by Karla Sofia GascónManitas’ journey to becoming Emilia Pérez is the heart of the film, led by Saldaña and further portraying the struggles of Manitas’s misinformed and disillusioned wife, Jessi ().
The trio of actresses, along with Adriana Pazwho plays Emilia’s love interest in the film’s second half, won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Saldaña cited casting directors as some of the women in Hollywood who have supported her professionally. She called them “amazing women who are always finding those diamonds in the rough“, in her interview with Elle.
“Where would I be if it weren’t for these women?” asked the actress, who described how specific and meticulous they were in taped auditions to help her perform at her best.
“There were directors and producers who said: ‘We want to follow the traditional, I don’t think she’s right for the role’. And they said, ‘No, no, you need to watch it’.”
The film “Emilia Perez” is scheduled to be released in theaters in Brazil on February 6, 2025.
