Selena Gomez Accused of ‘Butchering Spanish’ in Emilia Perez
Selena Gomez is way past being known for her singing. The singer and actress, who has gotten critical acclaim for her performance as Mabel Mora in Only Murders in the Building now stars in the new Netflix drama Emilia Peréz. The movie has been widely considered a front-runner for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, and stars Karla Sofia Gascón, Selena Gomez and Zoe Salda?a, among others.
The actress plays Jessi del Monte, the wife of a Mexican cartel leader who has gender-confirming surgery and begins a new life as Emilia Peréz. Years later, Peréz returns to her family’s life pretending to be a distant cousin who wants to help Jessi raise her children. The movie focuses not just on Peréz faking her death and starting a new life, but on the high-powered lawyer that helps her, Rita, played by Zoe Salda?a.
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Controversy has swirled since Gomez was announced to be speaking Spanish in the film, in addition to singing in Spanish. But does Gomez speak Spanish fluently? And what are people saying about her Spanish-speaking scene in Emilia Peréz?
Does Selena Gomez speak Spanish?
Yes, Selena Gomez speaks Spanish, though she talked about not being as fluent as she wishes she was. Emilia Peréz is not the first time the singer has used the language, much less sang in it, as she’s done previously done advertisements in Spanish and even released music in Spanish before, including an entire EP in 2021 titled Revelación. She’s also spoken about her connection to the language in previous occasions, telling Harper’s Bazaar in 2018, “I look at myself in the mirror every day and think, ‘Man, I wish I knew more Spanish.'”
Gomez was, at one point, fluent in Spanish, she revealed to the LA Times in 2021. “I was fluent in Spanish until I started working at 7. Then my job just kinda took over my life.” She also told the outlet that “embracing that part of me can be a source of healing for somebody else.”
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The actress shared with People in an interview in October 2024 that it was really important for her to play a she could resonate with on some level as a Mexican-American. “It was actually really interesting because I ultimately ended up getting to develop a character who is very similar to myself,” she said. “And actually, I believe a lot of Latinx communities in America. I think it’s also everywhere. But I, I’m just really, I’m really glad that we were able to make her Latin American because that’s who I am.”
Fans are seemingly split down the middle about her performance, with some defending her Spanish in the movie saying “didn’t know there was an “acceptable way” to speak a language… her character is mexican-american, therefore spanish is her second language,” while others went hard on the criticism, like one fan who said “i’m not gonna mince my words i want everyone involved in this to face some terrible consequences that if i were to detail i’d get ban off this site. Both the screenwriters, the casting director and Selena Gomez for thinking this is an acceptable way to speak Spanish.” And the critics seem to have been waiting for the actress to fail since before they even watched the film, with one fan posting about “Selena Gomez butchering the Spanish language,” even before they watched the film.
Gomez seems aware that the issue of her Spanish in Emilia Peréz is a topic of a lot of discussion, telling Remezcla “I definitely wish I had more time [to prep]. It was wonderful. The experience was in a way reconnecting. I’m grateful for it. If anything, I hope this isn’t [the] last thing I do in Spanish.”
Perhaps, if she does, her Spanish will finally stop being a topic of conversation.
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