Selena Gomez, Edgar Ramirez & the Cast of 'Emilia Perez' on the Film's "Messy" Love Story | Variety Studio at TIFF 2024 - video Dailymotion

Variety

Actors Selena Gomez, Edgar Ramirez, Zoë Saldaña, Adriana Paz & Karla Sofia Gascón break down the love story at the heart of 'Emilia Perez' at the Variety Studio at TIFF.

Transcript

00:00One can be just so lucky to be with you, ladies.

00:04Oh my god, I loved him.

00:08I only say past tense because I have a new love in my life, sorry.

00:13But it was a blast.

00:30Good to see you all. I'm a big fan of the movie.

00:40Congratulations on all the success.

00:43My first question is to you, Carla.

00:45For me? But why you?

00:47You're the star of the film.

00:49The performance is amazing.

00:51In the film, you portray Emilia Perez in two stages of her life.

00:58What did it feel like to play that early stage?

01:03And did it bring back any memories for yourself as you were making your transition as well?

01:09Well, for me, I think I've had a lot of luck.

01:18She's one of those characters that all actors and actresses would like to have in their careers.

01:25I think she's a character that, without sinning out of lack of modesty, is very complicated.

01:36And she's at the level of these great Hollywood actors of all times,

01:43like Marlon Brando in Meryl Streep, or Javier Bardem, or actors of that caliber.

01:51And I think it's a gift that Jacques has given me with this film.

01:57For me, it's been a great challenge to get into the skin of such a complicated character,

02:05with such a big arc, from the beginning of the film to the end.

02:14And changing my voice, my accent, the songs, moving in two different ways...

02:24It's been impressive.

02:27Very fun, very complicated, very hard as well.

02:32Easy, because they've made it easier for me, my colleagues and all the team we had in the film.

02:38But for me, it's a real...

02:41If I have to define it in any way, it's just a gift that life and acting have given me.

02:49I've tried to do my best.

02:53I think it's the first time I see myself on the screen and I have nothing to say to myself.

03:00It's very exciting for me, because it's true that I've spent all my life,

03:08every time I played a character, reproaching myself when I saw myself,

03:13when I said, I could have done this better, I could have done this...

03:17And it's the first time in my career, after 52 years and more than 30 years working,

03:23that I look at myself and I have nothing to say, just thank you.

03:54We may never forgive them, but what she said famously was, it stops now, though.

03:59And it's such an amazing performance. Can you tell me what it's like to take on this role

04:03and finally get to show the fire that is everything that you bring to it?

04:11Thank you. That kind of recognition.

04:14I know we spend so much time and so much effort proving that we don't really need it, but we do.

04:21Art is created by the artist with the purpose of sharing it and for it to be seen

04:28and to be felt and heard and acknowledged.

04:32Because if not, it's really detrimental for the artist, correct?

04:39Being blue and green had its benefits.

04:43The exposure it gave me, the connection it gave me with science fiction,

04:47which I do have a natural affinity for,

04:50also, Avatar was a film that I was able to incorporate so many parts of my craft.

04:58What I think happened with Avatar is there was a lack of understanding.

05:03I still feel that in 2009, 2010, Avatar was way ahead of its time.

05:08Jim has always been ahead of his time.

05:10But now we're going to jump to Emilia.

05:15I was given an opportunity, I think that we all were, independently,

05:20to showcase everything that we consider art and forms of it.

05:30When Jack approached me, not only was I able to sing and to play Rita,

05:37which is the main important thing for me, to sing through Rita and to dance through Rita,

05:42but I also got to speak in my native tongue, and that was incredible.

05:48Being a part of a story that is so important, that is so provocative,

05:52so authentic, fresh, and daring, was to me the highlight of it all.

06:01So, if I ever get these opportunities again,

06:05with the blessing of my family, if they don't need me,

06:09I'll jump on board, because it was repurposeful and quite exhilarating.

06:14Blue and green are great, but melanin is better.

06:16Yes.

06:17I appreciate it.

06:18Selena, I think before Emilia, you were quite well known in the music world.

06:25Yeah.

06:26Doing great things, and what is so great about what you bring to the role,

06:32it's a tricky role, because you could elicit a strong reaction from the audience,

06:36there's a sense of betrayal that comes with it,

06:38but you balance it with such heart and understanding, and it's really hard to do.

06:44Can you talk about getting into that mode and being able to see the character's side,

06:50what you see in everything that she goes through?

06:53I guess I would just say it was Jacques.

06:58I mean, he was the one that saw something in me,

07:03and I remember in the audition, I've done things I had never thought I could do,

07:09just because of how encouraging and the way he saw the character.

07:14I wanted to embody her completely, so adding elements of romance

07:22or having another connection, I wanted it to feel like you were on that journey with her.

07:30But I think he's just great and pulls it out of me,

07:35and then I obviously have these amazing people who have helped me as well.

07:40How many takes of Mikamino did you do to get that?

07:43Oh my gosh, how many takes?

07:45With flash.

07:46How many takes? Oh my gosh, hours.

07:50Hours, yeah.

07:51It was so fun though, we didn't want to stop, it was like karaoke.

07:54It was.

07:55On that day, I came in early.

07:58I got to see part of it, and Anthony Vaccarello was there, the designer of San Loren,

08:03and it was so amazing.

08:05We all had goosebumps.

08:06Yeah, it was really fun.

08:09Adriana, you have a smaller role in the film,

08:13but you make one of the largest impacts of everything that goes on.

08:17One of my favorite songs is your duet with Emilia, it's like the heart of the movie.

08:22Can you talk about getting to that place of portraying a beautiful love story

08:27that actually comes unexpected in a tale that includes crime and music?

08:33Well, just as my colleagues just said, and Carla, this movie is a gift.

08:39I mean, everything on it, the cast, the crew, and Jacques Goliath.

08:44I mean, I admire him as a director, and it's a wild story, it's very risky.

08:52The first time I read the script, I was like, oh my God.

08:56This could be a failure, but it wasn't.

09:01It was amazing.

09:02It's the thing that happens when you take risks.

09:05So I'm so happy to be here sharing with them and portraying Epifania,

09:15which is like Epifania for Emilia and also for Epifania herself.

09:21So I love singing, I love dancing, and have the opportunity to combine acting and dancing.

09:30Everything, the journey has been amazing.

09:34Being in Paris, know them, working with them, with Carla, we had so much fun.

09:40She is amazing.

09:42Everything, it's a gift, I mean, for real.

09:47Edgar, unlike the ladies, we don't like your character in the movie because you do some mean things,

09:55but you also are an integral part to the story.

10:00Anyone else can just look at that role and just say, I have to be kind of terrible,

10:03but you bring some nuance to it.

10:05Can you talk about your approach and sharing your scenes with Selena?

10:09I mean, one man can be just so lucky to support and be at the service of these four amazing artists.

10:18I didn't think it twice.

10:22We all become very close.

10:24I mean, Zoe and I have been friends for a very long time,

10:26but now the four of us are very close.

10:28It's one of those experiences where really the cast gets completely integrated

10:32and we're in each other's life and we became very close personally.

10:38I just love the fact that I think this is a movie about the possibility of change

10:45and the possibility of doing it all over again with whatever that encompasses,

10:53for better and for worse, the possibility of having second chances.

10:58For me as an actor to have the opportunity to play a character that can be in a very specific moment of the story,

11:09kind of like a catalyst for actions that I'm not going to reveal in the film

11:15and see how this movie tells the story of these four women that are claiming and reclaiming their identity,

11:26their authenticity, their agency, their independence,

11:29because in the end that's what they're all, and with all the contradictions,

11:32because the reality is that it's not portrayed in a way that one is a devil and the other one is a saint.

11:38They're everything at the same time.

11:41You know, like the devil and the saint at the same time.

11:44They're all full of contradictions, which is what defines human nature,

11:48and I didn't think it twice.

11:50I mean, it's like when Jacques called me and said,

11:52Edgar, I would love you to be in this movie, and to have the opportunity to fall in love with Selena,

12:00because I believe that love was true, you know?

12:03There was a real love story there.

12:05With all the contradictions and all the passion and all the, you know, the messiness,

12:10because love is messy.

12:12Love is not a straight line.

12:14Love is messy, and I think that no one,

12:18especially these amazing artists and our director,

12:21no one shied away and looked the other way from contradiction.

12:26But remember Edgar.

12:28I know, I know.

12:30Actually, it is a love triangle at some point.

12:33It's a total love triangle.

12:35It's a love triangle at some point, a very unique one that you don't see so often on cinema,

12:42and I think that it's part of the risks, and I mean, come on.

12:46It was an amazing opportunity to be part of this.

12:49As I said, one can be just so lucky to be with you ladies.

12:54Hey Ben.

12:55Selena, you're lucky.

12:57Oh my God, I loved him.

13:01I only say the past tense because I have a new love in my life story.

13:06But it was a blast.

13:08He made it incredibly easy, and was always making sure I was comfortable with whatever I was doing,

13:15and he supported me.

13:17Let's speak about the elephant that isn't here, Jacques.

13:20He didn't want to come see us today, but it's fine.

13:23But I'm one that believes that art is the only universal language that we have in this world.

13:29So we have the French Martin Scorsese essentially coming here and making a Spanish film in Spain

13:37that feels like it's ripped out of Mexico.

13:40It feels like Mexico in Paris where he shot.

13:46Can you talk about Jacques' vision and how you understood that vision to be?

13:53What does it feel like to be directed by him for anyone?

13:58I'll keep it short.

13:59It was absolutely liberating.

14:04He didn't get in Emilia's way.

14:09Jacques wasn't possessive over Emilia, over any of the characters.

14:13Jacques was simply just this brush that just kept giving us all these broad strokes,

14:20and we were defining where our characters were going, and he would slightly guide us.

14:26And I remember the respect that he had for the story,

14:31that he was constantly writing and rewriting and reshaping as we were going.

14:37And the way that he works with his crew, it almost felt, Emilia felt like a documentary at times.

14:44It felt like a journalistic sort of voyage into a story that felt sometimes so real and familiar,

14:54and yet felt completely distant and experimental.

14:58It was definitely an experience, but Jacques was a part of that experience as well

15:04versus conducting it all the time, you know?

15:07Awesome. Thank you.

15:08Sorry, the last two bits.

15:09Selina, true or false?

15:11Future season, only murders in the building.

15:14Mabel will be the killer.

15:16You know what? I'm not going to lie.

15:18I did pitch them.

15:21I don't think it's going to work out, but who knows?

15:25You never know.

15:26I think it could work.

15:27Zoe, Avatar.

15:29Do you know what happens to your character in this world down the line?

15:32A lot.

15:33I think we saw what happened in the second film, you know, The Way of Water,

15:38and they're going to continue evolving into that journey of healing and grief,

15:43but also fighting to protect what they believe is very, very sacred.

15:48Jim told me you could tell us all about the movie if you want.

15:51I'm not going to fall for that.

15:53And then the final question, has everyone been asked to contribute to Selina's next album?

15:58Because you can all sing, obviously.

16:00Now that you're suggesting it, I'm waiting.

16:02I'll wait for that one.

16:03Okay, all right, maybe.

16:05I don't even have one yet.

16:07Ooh, we'll pitch her.

16:09You're pitching Mabel, they're pitching you albums.

16:11Great.

16:12Thank you so much for being with me today, and Amelia Perez is remarkable.

16:18Thank you so much.

Selena Gomez, Edgar Ramirez & the Cast of 'Emilia Perez' on the Film's "Messy" Love Story | Variety Studio at TIFF 2024

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