Selena Gomez has responded to criticism of her ‘Emilia Perez’ performance.
The 32-year-old actress took to social media to defend her performance in the musical thriller, after actor and comedian Eugenio Derbez criticized her efforts.
“Selena is indefensible,” the 63-year-old star said on the ‘Hablando de Cine’ podcast. I was there [watching the movie] with everyone, and every time a scene appears [with her in it]we looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, what is this?’”
Podcast host Gaby Meza later commented that Selena is a “very talented actress” and a “very good singer”.
But Gaby claimed that Selena had difficulty performing in Spanish, describing the actress’s efforts as “unconvincing” and “uncomfortable”.
“Spanish is not her primary, secondary or fifth language,” the podcast host said. And that’s why I feel like she doesn’t know what she’s saying, and if she doesn’t know what she’s saying, she can’t give herself any acting nuance… And that’s why why her acting was not only unconvincing but also uncomfortable.”
Eugenio then added: “I’m glad you said that because I was saying, ‘I can’t believe no one’s talking about that?’”
Despite this, Eugenio is actually a fan of the film directed by Jacques Audiard, which also stars Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Adriana Paz.
“I feel like he did a very interesting experiment,” he said.
“I like this movie more than Selena’s movie [scenes] that hits you because it has manageable things. But I said, ‘It’s weird because if the director doesn’t speak English or Spanish and the movie is in Spanish and English, it takes place in Mexico and you don’t understand the culture.’ Like I wanted to make a movie in Russian without knowing the culture or the Russian language and speaking French.”
Criticism of Selena’s performance was widely shared on social media, and the actress eventually took to TikTok to defend herself.
Selena – who is of Mexican and Italian descent – commented: “I understand where you’re coming from… I’m sorry for trying my best in the time I was given. Doesn’t take away how much effort and heart I put into this film.”
The brunette beauty – who was born in Texas – previously confirmed that she really enjoyed the challenge of performing in Spanish.
Speaking to Sky News, Selena shared: “It’s very exciting. I’m not completely fluent, so for me it’s incredible to be able to be around people who are speaking that stuff. I’m sure it was a very proud moment.”
Also read: Beloved African elephant Sonia passed away unexpectedly at a Safari park