"I did the best I could with the time I was given," wrote Gomez, who speaks Spanish in the film despite not being fluent.

The Emilia Pérez role is Gomez’s first in a Spanish-speaking part, but she told Variety that she spoke Spanish at home until she was 7 and grew up embracing her Mexican heritage with her father’s side of the family. The Wizards of Waverly Place alum also brought Spanish into her music in 2021, when she released the EP Revelación.

Eugenio Derbez has apologized to Selena Gomez for his comments on Selena Gomez's performance in Emilia Pérez, saying his "careless comments … go against everything I stand for." During a recent appearance on the podcast Hablando de Cine,