Selena Gomez says it is 'hard' for people to take her acting seriously

The US singer and actress shot to fame as a child star on Disney series Wizards Of Waverly Place, before gaining acclaim for her role in Disney+ series Only Murders In The Building

Selena Gomez, the star of the forthcoming Oscar-tipped musical Emilia Perez, has admitted that she understands why people might find it "hard" to take her acting seriously. The American singer and actress first shot to fame as a child star on the Disney series Wizards Of Waverly Place, before earning acclaim for her role in the Disney+ series Only Murders In The Building, alongside comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short.

The 32-year-old is set to appear next in Emilia Perez, a French musical performed in Spanish. It tells the story of a Mexican Cartel leader (played by Karla Sofia Gascon), who enlists the help of high-powered lawyer Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldana) to fake their own death and undergo sex-reassignment surgery.

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Gomez, who portrays the drug lord’s wife, Jessi Del Monte, attended the BFI London Film Festival gala screening of the film with 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 expressed her pride in being part of 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, Zoe Saldana, star of Avatar, shared her thoughts on the energy on set, describing it as "right up there" with her favourite experiences. "It was palpable and it was exciting," she expressed at the red carpet event.

"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 explained how the women united with the desire to work with their "dream director", despite knowing they were creating 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 elaborated.

"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."

The film, Emilia Perez, will be available on Netflix from November 13.