Emilia Pérez star praises extensive work developing trans character's journey
Karla Sofía Gascón plays the title role in the eccentric new musical – which is now available to stream on Netflix.
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón has praised writer/director Jacques Audiard for his extensive work in developing the journey of the film's title character, who is a trans woman.
The film has received a decidedly mixed response from critics with regard to its handling of trans representation, but Gascón – who is herself a trans woman – only had positive things to say about Audiard's approach, even though she admits to initially having some concerns.
"My first worry about this role is the motives [to transition from] Manitas to Emilia," she explained during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com ahead of its release. "Because this changes completely the meaning of the movie, and this was my first [question to] Jacques... why Manitas wants to be Emilia?
"Because if it's only for escape from this world [of being a drug cartel boss] then it's completely different than if this role or this character does this... because she *needs* to be a woman. And I think that he chose the best way for this film."
Gascón added that she and Audiard "did a huge amount of work together" on developing the character "in every single aspect", explaining that the French auteur relied on her support a great deal.
"Because my life experience was the most similar to Emilia, but only physically – in terms of the physical change," she said.
"Of course, Emilia's change is much more radical and much more cinematic than in real life. But yeah, we had huge numbers of conversations, and I'm so grateful to Jacques for letting me contribute to the creative process of the character, because I'm perhaps one of the few people that could tweak the Spanish or help build certain phrases and sentences.
"And I'm so happy and grateful that he let me be involved in the creative process, not only of the film, but of the character itself, because I was one of the first – or the first – actress that got involved in the film.”
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For his part, Audiard appears to have greatly enjoyed working with Gascón and explained that he even changed the age of the character in the script to suit her after deciding she was the best fit for the role.
"I actually met Karla roughly at the same time as I met Zoe [Saldaña]," he explained. "And initially the characters were meant to be much younger, in their 20s and 30s. But then when I met Zoe, who's 45, Karla, who's in her 50s, it made much more sense. And they kind of imposed their ages onto the characters, which I then sort of amended.
"I went to Mexico and did some casting and some scouting, and the actresses just weren't right. Because they were in their 20s, it just didn't make sense. Whereas Karla, being in her 50s, has a history behind her. She has experience, and she has that pain that she can translate into her character."
He added: "I also think Karla Sofía happens to be an incredible actress. And I just think she's quite unique. I'd say off that identity really, there aren't many like her. So if I hadn't found her, I don't really know where we would have gone with the film – we wouldn't be talking about it today!"
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Emilia Pérez is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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