The Music and Drama of Emilia Pérez
The team behind the award-winning film shares how it came to life through collaboration and creativity.
I’m sure you’ve heard the name buzzing around: Emilia Pérez. When I first heard the title in passing last year, I had a moment of “Who?” before going back to whatever I was doing—likely something nerdy and science fiction-related.
But as the film began making waves during awards season, it became impossible to ignore. And why should you? This vibrant mix of music and drama is one of those rare must-watch films: a crime drama musical about identity, redemption, and love.
While Emilia Pérez has wowed critics and film juries across the globe, it has also sparked debate due to its subject matter. Its themes won’t be for everyone. But whether you love it or feel unsure about its choices, one thing is clear: it’s unlike anything else in recent cinema.
In October 2024, I tuned into a press conference for the film. At that point, with its staggered release dates and no Netflix screener in sight, I knew almost nothing about it. Sitting through that press conference was, to put it mildly, disorienting.
When the screener finally arrived at my door in November, courtesy of Netflix, along with the soundtrack and a pocket-sized screenplay, things began to make sense. Emilia Pérez is a different beast altogether—hard to pin down, gritty, authentic, but also (depending on who you ask) slightly pandering and, at times, problematic—and with some amazing music.
The film won the Jury Prize and a collective Best Actress Award at Cannes, with Zoe Saldaña also receiving the American Riviera Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The soundtrack and production team were celebrated at TIFF, further establishing the film as one of the year’s highlights.
And when the 2024 Awards Season came along, the film continued to sweep aside the competition, earning four Golden Globes wins, including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and a whopping 13 Oscar nominations.
Here’s how that press conference went, featuring French director and screenwriter Jacques Audiard, composer Camille, and the cast: Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoë Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Édgar Ramírez, and Adriana Paz.
Finding the Turning Point
Selena Gomez, who plays Jessi, reflected on her career so far. “I don’t think I ever thought that I would be here,” she said, recalling her start at a Disney open call. This role, however, was a turning point. “I’m genuinely so grateful because this is a role I’ve been waiting for, for a very long time. And it was really incredible to be able to sink my teeth into something, and it honestly feels like it’s just the beginning.”
In the film, Jessi confronts intense emotional challenges, especially when Emilia reveals she was once the feared drug lord Manitas. This moment, set during a gunfight, is part of the climax of the story. Gomez described how it shaped the development of her character: “I feel like there was this moment that she didn’t have a chance to really understand, but I think the love was immediately there. And I think that’s why it was so intense in the moment.”
Director Jacques Audiard upped the intensity by having Gomez film the final scene of the movie on her first day. “By the way, that was the first scene that Jacques had me shoot, was the end of the movie,” she said. “Very, very crazy and grateful for that.”
This moment of revelation ties into one of the film’s key ideas: “To listen is to accept.” Gomez explained Jessi’s emotions in this scene. “When you think someone is gone and all of a sudden it’s this, you know, reincarnation of someone that was everything to you, I think she’d be blind to not know that it was pulling at her, but it was so quick at the same time.”
The film explores themes of identity, redemption, and love, using these emotional moments to anchor its characters and story.
Rediscovering Creativity
Zoe Saldaña’s accolades are hard to overlook. She remains the only actress in history to star in four films that each grossed over $2 billion at the box office and has her name immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Yet, despite these achievements, she still considers herself “a sci-fi geek who happens to dress nice.”
When asked how this self-proclaimed sci-fi enthusiast found herself in Emilia Pérez, Saldaña’s had a lot to say about the matter. “Ai ya yai. I mean, how much time do we have?” she joked, before delving into the personal connection she found with the film. “I'm an artist at heart, and Emilia Pérez gave me an opportunity to reconnect with parts of me that I had forever sort of said goodbye to, and yet found myself in the last years of my life yearning to have just an ounce of what that felt like.”
Saldaña reflected on her upbringing in New York, where she was immersed in the arts. “When you're young, you're fearless,” she explained. “And little did you know that when your folks are keeping you busy and they're putting you in dance, and in art, and in tennis... most of the time you're able to use these skills for something else in your life. It catapulted me into a career where there was an abundance in roles when it came to active women in action and science fiction.”
But for all her sci-fi and action experience, Emilia Pérez let Saldaña reconnect with another facet of her creative identity: dance. “I am a native New Yorker, so I have jazz hands in my DNA. And I'm a dancer at heart, I will forever be a dancer,” she said. Her character Rita presented a departure from the physically assertive roles that have defined much of her career. “Playing a character like Rita, where she lives a lot on the inside... This is a woman that does not have the courage or the strength to speak up and be her own advocate. She can be an advocate for others, but she can't speak for herself.”
For Saldaña, Rita’s inner struggle and longing for visibility felt familiar. “The breath in the movie are those breaks of song and dance where you're able then to see how they truly feel and what they truly think,” she explained. “That jump from reality and surreality was what made this movie very special to me. And I was able to add so many parts of me.”
Hope Amid Pain
Adriana Paz reflected on the deeper meaning behind her character’s name, Epifania, and its connection to the story. “I think it was the right name for that character because Epifania is like an epiphany for herself and also for Emilia. She’s a kind of love presentation, and she’s been surprised by life, like life is giving her the opportunity to be loved and cared for. And to love and care for others.”
For Paz, Epifania’s story was deeply personal and symbolic of a larger issue. “She’s been through a lot of pain and violence, and that’s also the importance of this character. She represents many women in Mexico, in Latin America, and all over the world who are going through domestic violence. Some of them are still alive, but many of them are dead because they’ve been killed by their partners or on the street.” Despite this, Paz saw Epifania as a beacon of hope. “She’s been through all this violence and tough things, but she’s able to smile and have hope, and embrace this opportunity of being loved and loving Emilia.”
The Music of Transformation
Camille, who worked closely with the cast on the film’s music, shared her experience of recording with such a diverse group of actresses. “Every one of them is so different and comes from such different backgrounds and ways of envisaging singing in the studio. Selena, obviously, comes from pop… And so we actually tried together to go somewhere else, maybe find something raw, something to explore Selena’s vulnerabilities and punkiness, maybe, in Bienvenida, Rebellion. And in Mi Camino, yeah, something more fragile.”
Camille continued, describing Gomez’s duality in the karaoke scene. “I love the karaoke scene because it brings something like Selena singing on top of Selena, you know, but Selena as a real person singing on top of Selena as a pop singer.”
Camille also praised Zoe Saldaña’s approach in the studio. “Zoe, tell me if I’m wrong, but I felt it wasn’t your first experience in a musical studio, but one of the first. Zoe was more daring than any singer, very open and full of proposals.” Saldaña elaborated on her process for the song El Mal. “It felt like gossip, like I was letting you guys in on a secret. There’s that criminal they named something really prestigious, but he’s right there,” she said, describing the choreography and delivery that gave the song its playful edge.
Camille found working with Karla Sofia Gascon equally fascinating, particularly in capturing Emilia’s voice. “It’s really a singer’s work to go from a low husky voice to Emilia’s voice. Every singer and actress would dream of that role, but every singer wishes to explore those two sides. We worked on differentiating both voices—Emilia’s inside voice, something intimate, rather than a diva. We thought Emilia would be a diva, but actually, she’s much more than that.”
For Adriana Paz, Camille saw her as a grounding force in the film. “Adriana embodies the Mexican woman, grounded, both real and mythical, because she makes the story real, and at the end, she makes the story a myth. She sings that faithful song to Emilia like she was Che Guevara.”
Becoming Emilia
Karla Sofia Gascon discussed the transformation her character, Emilia, undergoes in the film and the process of bringing both Emilia and Manitas to life. “At the end of the day, all the applause and all the accolades, it’s not just for the hair, the color of our hair, our skin, or our sexuality. It is done for the work that we do. And what we do and what we want to bring about is that we’re all worth it. That’s the message that we’re trying to give with this movie—that we are all the same.”
Gascon emphasized the collaborative effort behind the character. “Constructing a character like this definitely took a lot of work on my part. But this would not be possible without the support of this wonderful team behind the scenes—Virginie, Camille, Damien, and so many others—and all these wonderful actresses here. It takes teamwork to make this happen. And of course, it takes the lead of our director. Otherwise, you know, this character would be nothing. It would be just a joke.”
Gascon described the intricate discussions with director Jacques Audiard to develop the character. “It was really about building both Manitas and Emilia. What we needed to discover was which Manitas and which Emilia we wanted to bring to the audience. The first and most important question for me with the director was, what was the reason for Emilia wanting this transformation? Was it because she wanted to run away from justice? Or was it because it was her truth? Because that really changed the meaning of the film—it would have been just a superficial comedy otherwise. For me, it was very important to know that. And I think that in the end, the best decision was made.”
The process also involved learning new skills. “Camille and Clement really tried to teach me about music and dance, ’cause I didn’t know anything. And, you know, I don’t know much of anything. I’m a bit rough around the edges about that type of stuff. And the man really tried to make me dance, but really, I dance like Robocop,” she joked. “But what that did is help build the character and the world of Emilia and Manitas. This terrifying character, but at the bottom, it’s somebody who’s yearning and trying to be themselves and get out of that world of darkness.”
A Story of Freedom
Edgar Ramírez embraced the energy and themes of Emilia Pérez with enthusiasm, particularly its focus on strong, multifaceted women. “I love alpha female energy,” he said with a laugh. “At the beginning, it was a lucky strike that I had a mother who was alpha female energy. Then a sister. And then I made sure that I surround myself by alpha female energy. So I feel very comfortable working with women. I love it.”
Ramírez continued. “This is a story, ultimately, about freedom. It’s a story about freedom told through the portrait of these four women. All of them, each of them, trying to break through the obstacles and the chains imposed upon them in different ways—from denying the right to be their truest selves, to reclaiming their right to be happy, their sexuality, their agency. Their right to choose who they want to be with, to choose what they want to be in life.”
The universality of these struggles were important to Ramírez. “That is something that we can all relate to. Because I think that ultimately, all we want to be in life is free. And on the other hand, it’s also a movie about hope. And that hope is also portrayed in these women.”
Ramírez praised director Jacques Audiard’s sensitivity and perspective in bringing this story to life. “There’s something very beautiful about what Jacques did. The fact that he’s French, and people might think, ‘Oh my god, like a French man telling a story about Mexican women and Mexico in Spanish.’ But the reality is that this is the ultimate exercise of compassion—having a compassionate outlook towards reality and looking at it with real, fresh, innocent eyes. With utmost curiosity. And that is something I commend Jacques for. He always, in my opinion, does it right because of his sensitivity and his true, true curiosity, without any preconceived ideas.”
For Ramírez, joining the film was an immediate yes. “When I got the invitation to be in this movie, I said, like, just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.” His connection to the character deepened during his scenes with Selena Gomez, “I discovered this character in the eyes of Selena playing Jessi. It was in her eyes and in the back and forth. The energy that we bounced back and forth is where I discovered this character.”
He saw Emilia Pérez as a film of contrasts, capturing the complexities of human nature. “This movie, ultimately, is also about contradictions. What makes us human is contradictions—the juxtaposition between violence and tenderness, freedom and chains. This movie is all about that. It’s all about the juxtaposition of things that feel very contradicting.”
Ramírez concluded with an analogy shared by someone who saw the film: “This movie feels like a perfect mariachi song. A mariachi song always speaks about you. No matter how old you are, no matter what moment in your life you listen to that song, it’s talking about you. And I think that is a beautiful analogy. I just love that this movie is eliciting these emotions in people.”
Discovering Contradictions
Jacques Audiard described how Emilia Pérez evolved over the years, shaped not only by his writing but by the insights of his cast. “First, just a little aside,” he began. “I’m dazzled by the intelligence of my actors, what readings of this film they have. I learned things from them that I didn’t know. The way that I talk to you about this film today is not the same way I would’ve talked about it four years ago when I started writing. Things have continued to appear to me throughout and continue to surprise me about this film.”
Audiard explained his vision of a story filled with contradictions. “I wanted a film that was not complex, but full of contradictory things. For instance, all the female characters in the film change. They all go from point A to point Z, every single one of them.” He reflected on one of the central themes of the film—the idea of living a double life. “How many lives does one have a right to, and how much does it cost you to have another life? The first life, we know about, we’re living it. But what will the second one cost you?”
He pointed to Emilia’s journey as an example. “It’s Manitas—Emilia’s name before she’s living her authentic life—giving up her kids to have that other life, but then realizing she can’t live without her children. All of these contradictions are in the film.”
Audiard admitted he initially made significant missteps in the early stages of the screenplay, particularly in casting and character development. “Initially, I had made a big mistake. It took me a long time to find the casting of this film. In the first screenplay, Rita was to be 25, Emilia was to be 30. And, I’m ashamed to say it, Epifania was to be 17.”
It was through early meetings with Karla Sofia Gascon and Zoë Saldaña that the characters truly took shape. “Karla Sofia was in Mexico City, and Zoe was by Zoom. They were the ones who told me about the mistake I’d made about the ages of these characters. Because if you’re 25 years old, if you’re a woman of 25, you haven’t had any life. You haven’t had any real drama or tragedy. You’re still becoming. Whereas if you’re 40, and you’re in some deep dark corner of a Mexican lawyer’s office, and you’re Black, your life is basically over. Changing your life is going to cost you a great deal.”
The cast not only shaped the ages but also the emotional depth of the characters. “Zoe and Karla Sofia really told me what I needed to do in terms of the age of these characters. The only one who doesn’t change across the film in terms of age is Selena. She’s the Snow White, this eternal youth.”
Selena Gomez and Zoë Saldaña shared their experiences preparing for the film’s musical numbers, which required a mix of rehearsal and spontaneity. “I was one of the last to be cast,” Gomez said. “So, to be honest, I had probably a little less rehearsal time. But it was really, really fun.” She appreciated director Jacques Audiard’s decision to avoid autotune. “He wanted to record us every time we did the number. And ultimately, he used a lot of those vocals in the movie. I thought it was really raw. And I appreciated that it didn’t sound perfect.”
Gomez recalled the physicality of performing Bienvenida. “My head hurt so bad after that. It was a lot of head-banging, but it was really worth it. I thought it was beautiful.” She jokingly called Saldaña the “dancing queen.”
Saldaña’s preparation was extensive. “I was finishing up a show in North Africa. I wrapped on the 2nd of March, flew on the 3rd, and by the 4th, we were already in the recording studio,” she explained. For the next five to seven weeks, she rehearsed constantly. “It had been over 20 years since I walked into a dance studio. It’s a very technical thing.”
Rehearsals required both precision and openness. “Jacques is expecting preparation, but he’s also expecting experiment,” Saldaña said. “You have to be very present in order to find things that are just gonna surprise us. Though that’s the most exciting place to be as an artist, you still want to come totally prepared.”
Even while shooting, she continued refining choreography. “They told us, ‘We’re going to shoot this amazing choreography for El Mal.’ And I was like, ‘When?’ They said, ‘Oh, like eight weeks from now.’ I was like, ‘We gotta start yesterday rehearsing this.’” Audiard would often attend rehearsals unannounced, adjusting choreography as needed. “It was always an element of surprise combined with preparation. It was a wonderful experience, but definitely not a walk in the park.”
Karla Sofia Gascon reflected humorously on her experience with the choreography. “For me, the choreography was just a walk of roses. I just had to do them once, and that was it,” she said with a laugh. “I wish I had Zoe’s marvelous abilities for dance, and Selena’s as well. But I’m so grateful I didn’t have to do what Zoe did—getting on the table and dancing—because I would be dead or I would have broken my back.”
She shared an anecdote about a scene that was ultimately cut from the screenplay. “There was a scene where Rita and Emilia were watching Epifania dance. Emilia wasn’t dancing; she was talking to Rita. She says, ‘A tough guy only dances twice in his life: the day of his wedding and the day of his daughter’s wedding,’ kind of like The Godfather. It reminded me of Norman Mailer’s novel, Tough Guys Don’t Dance.”
Breaking Stereotypes
Adriana Paz reflected on the impact of the film’s representation. “When I read the script and shot this movie, I never imagined this impact. During the tour, women started to tell me, ‘Thank you so much because I finally feel represented in a good way. Latinas and women are much more than the movies and television have been portraying for so many years.’” She recalled an emotional moment in New York. “We cried. I realized this was much more than just the movie. We are representing a lot, as a community and as a team.”
Paz addressed the harmful stereotypes often imposed on women. “There’s a phrase in Mexico: mujeres juntas, ni difuntas—women can’t be together; they have to be enemies. But that’s not true. If you shine, I can shine. Tu brillo makes me shine. We don’t need to be enemies. Together, we can be stronger.”
Zoë Saldaña added her thoughts on women’s reflecting on how women’s stories are often undervalued. “For many years, I believed my opportunities came from being the only female in the room. When you’re young and fearless, you think it gives you an edge over other women. But you’re feeding into a system designed to keep women separate. Throughout time, it’s been clear that when women band together, we’re unstoppable.”
Saldaña continued. “We are nurturers by nature, and when we come together, we are very celebratory. This environment reconnected me with the fact that we do have to invest in stories about women, for women. I commend Jacques Audiard for understanding the value of that and not seeing it as a devaluation of his art.”
Adriana Paz also talked about the film’s cultural resonance and its balance of beauty and pain. “When I saw the movie in Cannes, and the song Para with the missing people, I couldn’t stop crying. It’s so painful. But one of the most beautiful things about this movie is that we’re talking about important and painful topics in a poetic way. Using music and dance makes these stories universal. It impacts the heart directly.”
“Of course, violence and missing people are part of the movie,” said Paz “But the other very important thing is love—the power of love, the power of making a decision to change your life. Some environments dictate a certain path, but you have to try to change it. Even if the responsibility feels heavy, we can do things better. There is power in love and in community.”
So there you have it: the team behind the hit crime musical and Oscar favorite, Emilia Pérez. I won’t ask if you feel more in sync with the film’s themes and messages now or not, but one thing’s certain—after writing this, that music is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
After seeing mainly negative commentary about Emilia Pérez, it was pretty nice to read something neutral and let my curiosity about FINALLY seeing it spark again.
But this quote from the director put me back in the wary zone: "'For instance, all the female characters in the film change. They all go from point A to point Z, every single one of them.'" Sir... do you want a cookie for full-fleshed-out female characters? Isn't this the point of ANY character we write?
But great piece - nice to hear from each lead on the making of this!