“She is a woman who does not have the courage or the strength to speak out and be her own defender. She can be an advocate for others, but she cannot speak for herself. “That was a woman very familiar to me, a woman who was desperate for change and visibility at all costs,” revealed actress Zoe Saldaña when presenting her new film Emilia Pérez.
In the film that won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Saldaña plays Rita, a lawyer who helps fake the death of a client so that Emilia can live authentically. This dramatic musical journey with humorous moments follows the lives of three extraordinary women in Mexico, each in search of their own happiness. The French production, a bet of the Netflix platform for this awards season and spoken mostly in Spanish, was directed by filmmaker Jacques Audiard and co-starring Karla Sofia Gastón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez. In an exclusive interview with Metro, the producer, who could win her first Oscar for this performance, spoke about the challenges of singing and dancing in this film.
You started your career dancing in the movie Center Stage. You talked about returning to the technical part of dance after so many years. What was that work like from an emotional perspective to achieve such authenticity on screen?
—While I was learning the choreography and making voice recordings for the songs, I was also building Rita. Entering her world, into her head, was what gave me the ability to understand that the choreographies that Damián (choreographer) was composing with Jacques, were the basis of that desperation, of that temperament that she kept silent about. Because she is a very shy person, she does not have Emilia’s courage to be brave and fight for her freedom. So, that was her arc, the discovery that then leads us to the theme El Mal. When we got to that choreography, she was already tired. And that’s where it basically breaks loose. It was very nice for me to be able to know where she begins and ends.
I said about director Alejandro González Iñárritu that audio, music, can even be more powerful than the images themselves in cinema. I experienced this in this movie. What was it like to transmit those emotions through music and singing? How did you react when you saw the final product?
—I didn’t know about all the other songs. I knew of a few, but because I was so focused on what Rita was doing, on Rita’s relationship with Emilia and Jessy. We talked about the idea of how Jacques was going to weave all this together, but we didn’t have a completely concrete concept. He felt very special, very strong. When I saw it in Cannes it was a very shocking thing, because usually we have the opportunity to see the film before a premiere, but Jacques didn’t want to, he wanted to give us that gift. We were all terrified, with these heels, with these dresses, without being able to breathe. Three thousand people in this theater in Cannes and I praying. When the movie starts, it was like my soul withdrew from my body. I wasn’t there, it was such a nice and special thing.
I first interviewed you in Puerto Rico while you were promoting Avatar, and you were on the island filming The Losers. Tell me a memorable memory you have from Puerto Rico.
—Oh, I love it. You know that I have not been able to return, and every year we always have that desire to return to Puerto Rico. I enjoyed my time there so much. I was able to visit my uncles and aunts that I have there, also with my mother. My dad managed to organize that press conference, which is always so nice, my dad working on it. I enjoyed it. When I have the opportunity I will return because I have many Puerto Rican friends.
