Acclaimed French director Jacques Audiard, winner of the Palme d’Or in 2015, will direct American pop music star Selena Gomez in emilia perez. The filming of this musical comedy set in the world of drug trafficking will begin in the spring in Paris.
The cast also includes Zoe Saldaña, known to the general public for her roles in the big-budget Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy sagas, as well as Karla Sofia Gascón, a transgender Argentine actress.
The latter will play the leader of a feared Mexican drug cartel on the loose, who undergoes gender reassignment surgery in hopes of escaping the authorities.
emilia perez will be Jacques Audiard’s second film shot in English, after The Sisters brothersa 2018 western starring Joaquin Phoenix and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Among the many accolades he has won on the international scene, the 70-year-old filmmaker has three prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including a Palme d’Or for Deepanthe story of a Tamil refugee in France.
It was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010 thanks to its prison drama a prophet.