{"id":1177038,"date":"2024-11-19T11:38:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T19:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/?p=1177038"},"modified":"2024-11-19T11:38:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T19:38:31","slug":"emilia-perez-karlia-sofia-gascon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/emilia-perez-karlia-sofia-gascon\/","title":{"rendered":"Karla Sof\u00eda Gasc\u00f3n on the Many Transitions of Emilia P\u00e9rez\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Emilia P\u00e9rez, <\/em>Karla Sofia Gasc\u00f3n takes on one of the most complex roles imaginable \u2014 that of a feared cartel boss, Juan \u201cManitas\u201d Del Monte, who transitions into a new life as the woman who gives the film its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not the complex part. Emilia tries to undo some of the substantial harm she did as a cartel boss by becoming a philanthropist who locates the remains of people who have been killed by cartels. Emilia is the woman she has always dreamed of being.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also? For all the drama, it\u2019s also a comedy.\u00a0And a musical.\u00a0Which meant Gasc\u00f3n had to sing, as both Manitas and Emilia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film asks questions about identity that go far beyond gender identity. Can Emilia really become a new person? And have a new life? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gasc\u00f3n pressed director Jacques Audiard on Emilia\u2019s reasons for wanting to transition before agreeing to accept the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes Manitas just want to run away from justice, or is it that he is trying to become their true self?\u201d Gasc\u00f3n asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audiard wrote the screenplay with collaborators Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi, and L\u00e9a Mysius, based on a single chapter in journalist and author Boris Razon\u2019s 2018 novel \u00c9coute<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chapter is about transitioning, but Gasc\u00f3n, herself a trans woman, felt the script\u2019s first draft needed to better explain who Emilia is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would have been a joke if we did not make their motives clear,\u201d Gasc\u00f3n tells MovieMaker<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would have been a big mistake, but I think we made the message clear. The comments and the feedback we have received makes it seem like there is no doubt about it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as Emilia tries to right wrongs, one uncovered body at a time, her history is unchanged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the jealous, controlling, and violent person she was before always threatens to surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emilia P\u00e9rez<\/em> and the Two Ways to Make Movies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Selena Gomez as Jessi in <\/em>Emilia P\u00e9rez. Photo Credit: Shanna Besson\/PAGE 114 – WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – PATH\u00c9 FILMS – FRANCE 2 CIN\u00c9MA \u00a9 2024.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In May, all four leads in Emilia P\u00e9rez <\/em>\u2014  Gasc\u00f3n, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz \u2014 shared the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Gasc\u00f3n became the first trans woman to win the award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before her Cannes win, Gasc\u00f3n had a long career in Spanish and Latin American film and TV. She starred in the Telemundo series El se\u00f1or de los cielos <\/em>in 2014, when her season won the first International Emmy Award for a foreign-language program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gasc\u00f3n also co-starred in 2013\u2019s We Are the Nobles, <\/em>the blockbuster Mexican film about three spoiled children who are cut off from their family fortune and forced to get jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the words of The Noble Family<\/em>\u2019s director Gaz Alazraki, there are two ways to make a film: you can shoot a film for festivals or you can shoot a movie to make money,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is rare for both to happen, but when it does, it is wonderful. The Noble Family<\/em> really connected with the audience and then it took off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emilia Pe\u0301rez <\/em>did very well with film festivals: Besides Cannes, it was programmed for the Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival, among others. But Gasc\u00f3n hopes its streaming on Netflix means it will resonate far beyond the festival circuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Read:<\/strong> Gladiator II <\/em>Costume Designer Janty Yates on Dressing Denzel Washington \u2014 and Ping-Pong<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI actually want the public to see it because I cannot tell people what to feel or what to think. I think it\u2019s creating a precedent in the history of cinema because Emilia P\u00e9rez <\/em>transcends the screen,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has an important message that is for a wider audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karla Sofia Gasc\u00f3n on Song and Dance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Zoe Salda\u00f1a as Rita Moro Castro in <\/em>Emilia P\u00e9rez. Photo Credit: Shanna Besson\/PAGE 114 – WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – PATH\u00c9 FILMS – FRANCE 2 CIN\u00c9MA \u00a9 2024.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Salda\u00f1a plays Rita, an overqualified and undervalued lawyer who goes from representing criminals to helping Emilia transition and develop the non-profit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salda\u00f1a also does much of the dancing and singing in the movie. But that still left plenty of singing and dancing for Gasc\u00f3n, who found it especially challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou cannot sing the same song 45 times and they all sound great,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was challenging for me because I\u2019m not a singer and I had to sing in two different voices with two different registers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One register belongs to Manitas, and the other to Emilia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To master the songs, Gasc\u00f3n recorded them in a studio before the shoot, then live on set, and again after the shoot concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s had experience dubbing movies for international distribution, so the re-recording process came naturally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI actually love being able to create two different voices and changing those voices,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was really beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The section of Emilia P\u00e9rez<\/em> in which Gasc\u00f3n plays Manitas marks her first time playing a male-presenting character since she transitioned in real life<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gasc\u00f3n wants to play characters who are as far away as possible from her, and Manitas fit the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s the first time, and I think it\u2019s not the last. Playing Manitas was joy,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was fun to sit in the makeup chair and have the prosthetics applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand that for other trans people, it would be hard to play a character that looks like they were before. But for me, it wasn\u2019t hard. It was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emilia P\u00e9rez\u00a0is now streaming on Netflix.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main image: Emilia P\u00e9rez. Karla Sof\u00eda Gasc\u00f3n as Emilia P\u00e9rez in Emilia P\u00e9rez. Photo credit: Shanna Besson\/PAGE 114 – WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – PATH\u00c9 FILMS – FRANCE 2 CIN\u00c9MA \u00a9 2024.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Emilia P\u00e9rez, Karla Sofia Gasc\u00f3n takes on one of the most complex roles imaginable \u2014 that of a feared […]","protected":false},"author":1810,"featured_media":1177041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"disable_comments":false,"tpd_featured_posts_arr":"","hide_featured_img_single_post":false,"msn_featured_video":[],"_msn_custom_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"feeds":[],"class_list":["post-1177038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"primary_category":{"term_id":11,"name":"Movie News","slug":"news","taxonomy":"category","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/category\/news\/"},"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428,height=285,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/7y7a3199.jpg","fimg_url_thumb":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428,height=285,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/7y7a3199.jpg","featured_img_medium":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=666,height=444,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/7y7a3199.jpg","author_name":"Joshua Encinias","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/906d692755030d8dc0aeed73430f0459?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/author\/joshua-encinias\/","post_categories":["Movie News"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Karla Sof\u00eda Gasc\u00f3n on the Many Transitions of Emilia P\u00e9rez\u00a0","url":"http:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/emilia-perez-karlia-sofia-gascon\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/emilia-perez-karlia-sofia-gascon\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428,height=285,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/7y7a3199.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=2560,height=1707,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/7y7a3199-scaled.jpg"},"articleSection":"Movie News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joshua Encinias"}],"creator":["Joshua Encinias"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"MovieMaker Magazine","logo":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mm_site_logo-2.svg"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-11-19T19:38:28Z","datePublished":"2024-11-19T19:38:28Z","dateModified":"2024-11-19T19:38:31Z"},"rendered":"