‘Emilia Pérez’ brought Selena Gomez back to her Spanish language roots : NPR

Actor, musician and entrepreneur Selena Gomez grew up speaking Spanish, but says she gradually lost her fluency when her family moved from Texas to California so she could work in the entertainment industry.

“I got my first job at 7, and most of my jobs from that point on were English,” Gomez says. “And I just lost [my Spanish]. That’s kind of the case for a lot of people, especially Mexican American people.”

Gomez’s latest film, the musical Emilia Pérez, offered a chance to regain some of her fluency. The film tells the story of a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Gomez plays the cartel leader’s wife, who knows nothing about the transition. Gomez says she spent nearly half a year taking language lessons to prepare for the role:

“I wish I just knew a lot more than I do. But I think that’s why I try to honor my culture as much as possible — from releasing an album in Spanish to wanting to pursue this movie,” she says. “And I don’t think it’ll be the last thing I do in Spanish.”

Gomez is a Grammy Award-nominated musician with a string of top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. She also stars in the mystery comedy series Only Murders in the Building, alongside comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short.

“These two actors … have been working longer than I’ve been alive,” Gomez says of Martin and Short. “They’re humorous, smart and wise. And they’ll sit down and talk to our camera guy and ask how his daughter’s doing. And it just, to me, was a very good place for me to start back into acting. It just was safe. And it was so fun. And they made it feel like it was home.”

Interview highlights

On “Mi Camino,” the song she sings in Emilia Pérez

It was one of the most emotional songs that I got to record during the process of shooting this movie. And I remember just singing it and thinking to myself: This could have been my song. And this could have been a song on an album I would put out personally because it’s so well said and it feels very true to who I am, to where I am. I think that when I do make mistakes, I don’t feel like I should or necessarily need to be punished for them. It’s something that I feel like I need to grow and learn from. And I think that sometimes there’s been moments in my career where people weren’t allowing me to grow up, weren’t allowing me to make choices that wasn’t exactly what they thought I should be doing.

On getting cast in the children’s show Barney & Friends

I was 7 when I auditioned for Barney, which is the big purple dinosaur, if people don’t remember. But I was in line. It was 1,400 kids, and it was in Texas, and I waited in line for a while and I just thought, here’s my chance. I could do something really cool. … I didn’t know I could reach further than that. At that point. I just thought, this is something I really want to do and I hope I get it. And I went to three rounds of callbacks — they were very serious about that Barney back in the day — and I got the part and … the first time I stepped foot on the set of Barney, it was magical. Not to mention I’m 7 and … the sets are gorgeous. And I just got the bug immediately. I loved it. It was fun. I had school there as well, a bunch of kids I got to grow up with. And at the same time, maybe Barney taught me how to clean and how to say “I love you.” 

On her complicated relationship with her Disney years

I don’t regret or dislike Disney. I think Disney gave me my platform and I will forever owe them for that because I was able to do incredible things. … My frustration has not necessarily ever been with Disney. It’s just been with the idea that people would not take anything I was saying seriously if it was me talking about philanthropy, if it was me wanting to talk about something important. … Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m 32 and now I’m doing a reunion of Wizards of Waverly Place, and I’m back and I’m proud.

On how her parents protected her when she was a child actor

My mom and my stepdad specifically, made sure that they held up these boundaries that sometimes I’d get mad, but they were necessary. You know, for example, you’re inviting kids to this beautiful premiere, and then they’re walking the carpet and experiencing all this attention, and that can be overwhelming. Then I have the after party, and that’s when kids can come and all the adults start drinking and all the stuff starts going on at a very young age. My mom said, “You’re there to walk the carpet for your job, but then you’re going home.” … My mom never let me go into any room without her. … My mom was very protective of me in the best possible way. And though maybe it didn’t make much sense to me then, I could not be more grateful now.

“It is very difficult to keep a straight face when you’re talking to them about anything because they simply exude and radiate comedy,” Gomez says of her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Steve Martin (left) and Martin Short (right).
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On being treated for lupus and finding relief in her bipolar diagnosis

I was in the ICU for a few weeks and then I had to undergo a slight chemotherapy … and by the grace of whatever you believe, I was able to put it in remission. So I will always have lupus, but it is in remission, thankfully. But it wasn’t necessarily that that fixed everything and definitely fixed my health. … So my body was feeling great. But I was still just so confused as to why I had all these things and I wasn’t happy. I understood that I had circumstances that made me unhappy, but I knew deep down that I was feeling things intensely, way too high and way too low. …

I would say my diagnosis [with bipolar] was actually a huge relief. … So I know people may think, that’s scary, that that means she’s crazy. To me, that gave me answers and my knowledge gave me freedom and now I am being treated for all of it. And I feel completely level headed. … I’m really grateful I found my balance.

Ann Marie Baldonado and Thea Chaloner produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.