Karla Sofía Gascón on the drug cartel musical “Emilia Pérez”: NPR

Karla Sofia Gascón is having the time of her life. She plays the title role in the new film Emilia PerezThe world’s first Mexican cartel musical centered on a trans woman is now in U.S. theaters and streaming on Netflix starting Wednesday. It’s a bold cinematic experience like no other dreamed up by renegade French director Jacques Audiard (Rust and bones, A prophet, The beat my heart skipped).

Gascón was the first trans actress to win a top prize at the Cannes Film Festival with the Best Actress award, which she shared with the film’s other female leads – Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldaña. The feature film also received the Jury Prize after an 11-minute standing ovation. And now there are rumors of an Oscar nomination for Gascón.

When we first meet Gascón’s character, she is known as “Manitas” del Monte, a Mexican cartel leader who rules through fear and deadly force. But Manitas reveals to a lawyer (Saldaña) that she wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery and live as her true self, as a woman. The cartel leader fakes her death, moves to London and emerges four years later as Emilia Pérez.

Gascón, who herself moved on in 2018, insisted on playing both parts of the role. Audiard originally intended for Manitas and Emilia to be played by two different actors.

“It just wouldn’t have been the same if you had two different actors, an actor and an actress, a trans actor with a cis actress or a cis actor,” Gascón told NPR’s A Martínez. “It was an opportunity and I pushed for it because it was something that had never been done before…and it was perfectly constructed.”

Selena Gomez (center) takes on the role of Jessi, the wife of a drug lord named “Manitas” in Jacques Audiards Emilia Perez.

Page 114, Why Not Productions, Pathé Films, France 2 Cinéma

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Gascón, a Spaniard living in Mexico, had a direct influence on some of the scenes that Paris-born Audiard subsequently altered – even though the two did not share a common language.

In one specific case, a scene was originally written in which Emilia erupts into physical violence against Manitas’ former wife Jessi (Gomez). But after Gascón’s input, the scene turned into an emotional rage.

Gascón describes the role as a character study of “the good and the evil” or “the light and the dark” that lives within all people.

French director Jacques Audiard, seen here on set Emilia Perezhas mixed genres and pushed creative boundaries in his film career.

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The film similarly takes audiences on a journey from the depths of ruthless violence to comedy – like a musical number (choreographed by Damien Jalet) set in a Thai plastic surgery facility, where patients are transferred on stretchers in concentric circles Explanations about “ Mammoplasty! Vaginoplasty!

There are moments of tender tenderness, such as between Emilia and a child, that are reminiscent of Michelangelo’s life Pieta Sculpture of Jesus and Mary.

Other scenes reach a philosophical level, such as when Saldaña tells an Israeli surgeon: “Changing the body changes society.” Not surprisingly, Audiard originally envisioned the story as an opera libretto (based on Boris Razon’s 2018 novel ). Ecouteor Hear).

Zoe Saldaña’s character Rita Moro Castro (left) meets her former client for the first time as Emilia Pérez (right).

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Manitas “was trying to survive and couldn’t be herself in the world she had to live in,” Gascón said. “So she had to pretend to survive. And that’s something we humans do often. We try to please others, but we don’t live our own lives. We don’t live for ourselves.”

The experience of losing oneself in a false identity is painfully familiar to Gascón, as she remembers someone close to her abandoning her during her transition. “In my case, I had to choose to live my own life. And to do that, I had to come out of the darkness… [I was] in this deep hole, lost and even wanting to leave the earth,” she remembers.

Gascón says she brings her characters to life through what she has lived. “Without having gone through the misfortunes and hardships of life, we cannot translate that into a role,” she said. “If I had gotten this role about 20 years ago, I don’t think I would have been able to give it the same depth that I give it now, at 52 years old.”

In a music and dance number, lawyer Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldaña) draws attention to the corruption of business and political leaders.

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In the film, her character’s physical transformation is accompanied by a moral one: Emilia creates a restorative justice charity that helps the families of cartel victims, including those once targeted by Manitas. She falls in love too.

“We cannot make amends, repair, or undo our past sins. But what we can do is make things better,” Gascón said. “That’s the true message of the film.”

In anticipation of the millions of people who could see the film, Gascón spoke of the “social responsibility” that comes with her role. “I would like to see this as a grain of sand that helps marginalized communities become less marginalized and be able to be part of society regardless of their sexuality and skin color,” she said. “It’s ridiculous that I’m first, but wonderful at the same time.”

The digital version of this story was edited by Adriana Gallardo And Olivia Hampton. It was produced by Claire Murashima. The digital version was edited by James Doubek.