Selena Gomez says she felt 'really proud' to be involved in Spanish-speaking project Emilia Perez

The US singer and actress rose to fame as a child star on Disney series Wizards Of Waverly Place, before gaining plaudits for her role in Disney series Only Murders In The Building alongside comedy stars Steve Martin and Martin Short.

Disney star turned Hollywood actress Selena Gomez has said she is being pushed to “stretch more” in her film roles after being cast as the wife of a Mexican Cartel leader in new Spanish-language film Emilia Perez.

The US singer and actress rose to fame as a child star on Disney series Wizards Of Waverly Place, before gaining plaudits for her role in Disney series Only Murders In The Building alongside comedy stars Steve Martin and Martin Short.

The 32-year-old will next be seen in Emilia Perez, a Spanish-language French musical following a Mexican Cartel leader (played by Karla Sofia Gascon), who asks a high-powered lawyer named Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldana) to help fake their own death and undergo sex-reassignment operations.

Gomez, who plays the drug lord’s wife, Jessi Del Monte, appeared at the BFI London Film Festival gala screening of the film alongside her co-stars at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre in London.

“I think that my taste in film and working with filmmakers has evolved, and I only want to stretch more in that area,” Gomez told the PA news agency on the red carpet.

“I know it’s probably hard for people to take me seriously, I get why.

“But also at the same time, (director) Jacques Audiard saw something in me, and I then saw something in myself, and I am thrilled.”

Gomez said she felt “really proud” to be involved in the Spanish-speaking project.

“I loved speaking in Spanish, and it felt like I could connect to the character in a totally deeper, meaningful way,” she said.

“It means a lot that I can do that, especially given my culture, my background and my family.”

Meanwhile, Avatar star Saldana spoke about the energy on the film set, describing the experience as “right up there” among her favourites.

“It was palpable and it was exciting,” she said on the red carpet.

“Sometimes it was intense, but in the most passionate (of) ways, because at the end of the day, we were all coming with our hearts completely open and committed to just give the best of ourselves.”

Saldana said the women came together wanting to work with their “dream director” but knowing it was a “niche of a niche of a niche movie”.

“It’s a film about four Hispanic women. It’s in Spanish, it’s a musical with tones of opera,” she said.

“We knew that it was going to cater to all the accumulative followers of each of us, respectively.

“What we did not imagine was that it was going to have such a warm and impactful impression on people.

“So every festival that we’ve been to, the reception has been really beautiful and unimaginably incredible and I feel like what is most rewarding in my heart is that people are going to get to see a story that they probably never would have thought about seeing otherwise.”

Emilia Perez will be released on Netflix on November 13.

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