‘Emilia Perez’ director was unaware of Selena Gomez’s fame when casting her

The film, which is described as “bracingly original crime musical”, made Selena Gomez bag a Best Actress award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. (Image via X)

Jacques Audiard, the director of ‘Emilia Perez’, recently revealed that he had no idea about the heightened fame of Selena Gomez in the United States when he was casting her.

“I was completely unaware of it. I'm not familiar at all with this social network, Instagram, TikTok generation. I have no access to all of that. I knew her from Spring Breakers and the Woody Allen film she played in, [A Rainy Day in New York]. I just wanted to work with her for that. And when I met her in New York one morning in a cafe, I just knew instantly that I wanted to work with her,” the ‘Rust and Bone’ director said.

The film, which is described as “bracingly original crime musical”, made Selena Gomez bag a Best Actress award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Her co-stars Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz joined her in winning this award.

Greta Gerwig, the Jury President at the 77th Cannes Film Festival said, "“To separate them would be to undermine the magic of what they did together. Each of them is a standout. They're transcendent.”

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Selena Gomez talked about her auditioning experience. She also recalled that she thought Audiard had forgotten about her because she didn’t hear from him for a year.

"Yes, we had an audition and then I didn’t hear anything. I acted insane in the audition. He wanted me to perform one of the numbers and I just surrendered and completely gave myself. I was, like, well, at least I could walk away and say that I did my best. When he asked me to be a part of it, I was so nervous but also so excited,” the ‘Heart Wants What It Wants’ singer said.

She added, "Jacques, who really didn’t know anything about me, took a chance and believed in me simply based on what I was able to do, and that was really special for me. I think this is a really big deal, and I choose projects according to the filmmaker, to the content, to the meaning, all of it.”