The ‘Selena’ Movie Could’ve Been Completely Different. Here Are 25 Things You Didn’t Know About The Film
Twenty-three years have passed since Tejano music legend, Selena Quintanilla-Perez’s death. The movie about her life and career came out just two years after her death and helped to solidify the continuation of her legacy.
Here’s a look at the top 25 facts you probably didn’t know about the movie!
1. Fans of Selena protested when they learned Jennifer Lopez was playing Selena.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Selena’s fans began protesting the film once they learned that Jennifer Lopez was taking on the role of their beloved singer. Many thought that Lopez, a Puerto Rican from New York, was unfit to play the Mexican-American from Texas.
2. Abraham Quintanilla needed convincing when it came to Selena’s relationship with Chris Perez.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Fans of Selena and the pic about her life, are pretty familiar with the fact that Selena’s father Abraham didn’t initially approve of Chris or his daughter’s marriage to him. Afraid that Selena’s younger fans would get the wrong message about eloping, Abraham initially pushed to have the scene of their marriage cut out.
3. Six other women gave J.Lo a run for her money.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Three women from the open call were selected and three other actresses including Salma Hayek and Bibi Gaytán were considered.
4. Jackie Guerra lied about her talents.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Jackie Guera who played the role of Suzette, wanted the role so badly that she lied at her audition and said that she was an expert drummer. Suzette later gave her private lessons.
5. “Selena” almost became a victim of brownface.
Selena /Warner Bros.
The film’s director had to fight to get Lopez the role of Selena. At the time, Warner Bros was considering a non-Latina actress to take on the role which would have been AWFUL.
6. Jennifer Lopez lip-synched
Selena /Warner Bros.
Creators feared that fans would be upset if they saw Lopez singing the song on her own. So Lopez was coached to lip-synch instead.
7. Abraham Quintanilla didn’t want to show Selena’s murder.
Selena /Warner Bros.
The film which came out just two years after Selena’s death was likely a very hard project for Abraham to work on. He didn’t want to show his daughter’s death but the film’s director convinced him it was necessary.
8. Constance Marie could be Jennifer Lopez’s sister.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Lopez and Marie play mother and daughter in the movie. But in real life, Marie is only 4 years older than Jennifer Lopez.
9. Actually, there was a lot of age-skewing on set.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Lupe Ontiveros was 54-years old when she played Yolanda Saldivar. At the time of Selena’s death, Saldivar was actually only 34.
10. Salma Hayek turned down the role of Selena.
Selena /Warner Bros.
The Mexican actress was offered the role of Selena when producers first started casting. At the time however, Hayek was gearing up to play her famous role of Frida.
11. You’ve seen this cast together before.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Most of the film’s cast had starred together in the film “My Family.” That’s right, it wasn’t the first time Jennifer Lopez starred alongside Edward James Olmos, Jacob Vargas, Constance Marie, or Lupe Ontiveros.
12. Constance Marie wanted to be Selena.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Marie played the role of Selena’s mother in the movie. She originally auditioned to play the part of Selena.
13. Roles were flipped.
In “My Family,” Edward James Olmos and Constance Marie play the role of Jennifer Lopez and Jacob Vargas’ children.
14. Constance Marie was also extremely close in age to her other daughter in the movie.
Besides being close in age to Jennifer Lopez, Marie is just 46 years younger than Jackie Guerra who plays Suzette. In real life, Suzette was only 4 years older than her sister Selena.
15. Jennifer Lopez did her best to do Selena’s accent.
Credit: Snakkle
Selena’s Southern accent wasn’t totally noticeable but fans knew it was there. Lopez did her best to portray the singer’s Texan accent in the interview portions of the film.
16. Jennifer Lopez got really close with Selena’s family.
Selena /Warner Bros.
To prepare, J.Lo lived with Suzette before shooting. The experience made the two closer and they’re still friends to this day.
READ: 11 Reasons Why Selena Is So Special For Us Latinos
17. The casting call got crazy.
Over 20,000 girls turned up to audition to fill the role of Selena at different ages.
18. Jennifer Lopez broke history with her role.
Selena/ Warner Bros.
The young Latina star was paid $1,000,000 for her role. She instantly became the highest paid Latina in history.
19. The move got Lopez to pursue a side gig.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Lopez had pursued acting for the good part of her young career when she first landed the role. It was acting in this film that got her to seriously pursue singing.
20. Lopez only sang three words in the movie.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Creators feared fans wouldn’t be too happy to see someone other than Selena singing her words. The only words Lopez sings are when she starts to sing “Como La Flor.”
21. Edward James Olmos packed on the pounds for his role.
Selena /Warner Bros.
The actor who played Abraham Quintanilla gained 50 pounds in order to portray the realities life Abraham more accurately.
22. Constance Marie spent a lot of time in the makeup room.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Remember, Marie was much younger than Marcella was in the movie. To look the part, Marie spent four hours in the makeup room.
23. Plans for a movie happened soon after her death.
Selena /Warner Bros.
Five months after Selena’s death in March, plans for the film were announced.
24. The movie made major history.
Selena /Warner Bros.
The biopic on Selena’s life has become a classic and favorite amongst her fans. So much so that the film is known as the 10th highest-grossing biopic in history.
25. Chris Perez made an actual appearance.
Selena /Warner Bros.
In the scene where Chris Perez auditions to be part of Selena’s band, the director found Jon Seda couldn’t really keep up. They pulled the real Chris to set to show Seda how to get the job done but ultimately used the take of his real hands.
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