By now you’ve undoubtedly heard the rave reviews for Karla Sofía Gascón and the cast of Emilia Pérez . Gascón, along with co-stars Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz collectively won the Best Actress award at Cannes, while Jacques Audiard’s soapy melodrama won the Jury Prize. This was a special film for everyone, but for Gascón it meant something more and provided a unique challenge as she didn’t just play Emilia. Gascón also insisted on playing the violent, macho cartel boss Manitas before he receives gender-affirming surgery.
Emilia Pérez springboards from Manitas’ desire to transition from male to female, with the repercussions reverberating through the lives of many women. Audiard’s audacious musical thriller finds Manitas faking his death with the help of Rita, a fed-up attorney, transitioning into the woman they always wanted to be. But living life as Emilia Pérez doesn’t satisfy her need to be reunited with the family she left behind, and so she turns to Rita once more to facilitate a secretive reunion.
I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes talking with Karla Sofía Gascón about Emilia Pérez. We talked the reasons she felt it so important to play both Manitas and Emilia, and the challenge of doing so. Gascón also talked about her own experiences as a trans woman and how that informed the performance. Finally, Gascón leaped at the hope of Emilia Pérez leading to more action roles for trans actors, and wants to star in those movies herself!
Emilia Pérez is streaming now on Netflix.
