Zoe Saldaña has nothing but wonderful things to say about her time with the cast Emilia Perez.
On Monday, September 30, Saldaña, 46, appeared with her Emilia Perez actors Edgar Ramírez, Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz for the Spanish-language premiere of the musical at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. There, Saldaña talks exclusively to PEOPLE about how the group transformed while working on the film.
“It’s wonderful,” Saldaña says of the cast’s close bond. “To this day, there is so much love, so much respect. We root for each other. We are happy for each other. We fix each other’s makeup and wardrobe.”
“You know, every time we’ve been on the red carpet, we’ve been so excited to be a part of this project to work with [director] Jacques Audiard that we were kind of childish when we were recording Emiliashe continues.
For Saldaña, even attending premieres like NYFF or the film’s previous Cannes Film Festival debut allows the cast to “still have that joy because we knew we signed up for something special.”
“We knew what it meant to us,” she concludes. “And knowing that it becomes something special for so many people has an impact. It really has an impact. So I think it reconnects us.
Selena Gomez Was ‘So Nervous’ To Star In Her First Spanish-Speaking Film ‘Emilia Pérez’, Says Her Character Is ‘Like Me’
Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez and Adriana Paz as Epifanía in the movie ‘Emilia Pérez’.
Shanna Besson/PAGE 114
Emilia Perez, written and directed by French director Audiard, had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May and won two awards, including Best Actress for its female ensemble. It was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival this month, where it was named the first companion to the festival’s People’s Choice Award winner Chuck’s life.
The rest of the cast were also candid about how much being a part of the film meant to them. On August 19, Gomez (32) shared a video on Instagram of the moment she found out she got the role. In the video, she can be seen holding back tears immediately after receiving the call.
“I can’t believe I got the movie! Now I’m going to cry, I don’t want to cry,” she says in the video.
Selena Gomez calls the singing Emilia Perez ‘Therapeutic’: ‘It’s not the way I normally sing’
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Zoe Saldana, Adriana Paz, Karla Sofia Gascón and Selena Gomez at the ‘Emilia Pérez’ premiere during the 62nd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall on September 30, 2024 in New York City.
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According to a synopsis on the Cannes website, the film follows the “overqualified and underrated” Rita (Saldaña) who is “a lawyer at a big firm more interested in getting criminals off the hook than bringing them to justice.”
It adds: “One day, she is presented with an unexpected way out, when the leader of the Manitas cartel hires her to help him retire from his job and realize the plan he has been secretly preparing for years: to become the woman he has always dreamed of.”
Emilia Perez in select theaters is November 1; the film begins streaming on Netflix on November 13.
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Source: HIS Education