JACQUES AUDIARD:In the novel, the character was not a small-time dealer.
He was a full-fledged cartel boss.
And thats what really intrigued me, and thats where my imagination started to go into action.
From left: Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Jacques Audiard, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldaña at Deadline Contenders Film London 2024Deadline
DEADLINE:You added a daring storyline, with singing and dancing.
Youve described it as having the structure of an opera, a libretto.
Might you stage it as an opera one day?
Karla Sofía Gascón in ‘Emilia Pérez’Page 114/Why Not Productions/Pathé Films/France Cinéma
AUDIARD:Speaking for myself personally, no, I wont stage it.
DEADLINE:Carrying a project that long must be wearing.
How did having three major female characters impact the dynamic and the possibilities of what you were writing?
AUDIARD:I see what youre getting at.
I am trying to think of a good answer.
DEADLINE:At what point in your writing did the musical and dancing elements come into it?
Was there a cinematic inspiration for that addition?
AUDIARD:The initial text that I wrote when I was adapting this strangely resembled a libretto.
They were divided in acts, they were tableaus.
And I think that came from the fact that I was in lockdown and I wanted to write fast.
I didnt want to dwell on intermediary stuff.
And so once youre writing a libretto, that of course is asking for music.
I think that was of an operatic tragic nature.
DEADLINE:You needed a trans actress for the title role.
What about Karla Sofia Gascon and her own life made her right.
She really is someone that I found remarkable.
The specificity of her talent comes from that.
DEADLINE:Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez are two of the busiest actresses in Hollywood.
How did you sell them on this film?
AUDIARD:See, they wanted to do it.
I didnt have to sell it to them.
You cannot logline this in a single sentence.
How receptive were buyers, and what was the big challenge in getting the film financed?
We did need that.
Now, I dont know if I really pitched this film.
I dont think I had to serve as its sales representative.
It wasnt like that.
Im sorry if its pretentious to say this, but people do know me a little bit.
DEADLINE:True, but we havent often seen a trans actress leading a production like this.
And theres a lot of daring and provocative things that happen here.
AUDIARD:There was no reticence at all in terms of subject matter that we struggled with.
I think what made all the difference is from the moment that I decided to shoot in a studio.
We realized that we would have to keep the budget within a certain range.
It made it relatively easy to finance the film.
It was preventing the film from taking off.
And thats how we decided that we were going to make it on a sound stage.
And theres really nothing closer to an opera stage than a sound stage.
This was a film that needed an important degree of stylization.
DEADLINE:Karla Sofia turns in a wonderful performance, as she dangerously re-enters the world she ran.
She has become thefirst trans actress to be nominated for a Golden Globe.
And its very possible that an Oscar nomination awaits her.
How important to you is that distinction?
You never want to marginalize somebody who turns in a great performance, no matter how they identify.
But this is all unprecedented.
What does that all mean to you, Jacques?
AUDIARD:Its strange.
I dont think that Im analyzing things on that level.
But first and foremost, she is, for me, an actress.
And Im proud that I wasnt wrong about her.
As for the rest, I dont really think about it.
I wouldve been upset, offended if she hadnt been noted as an actress.
DEADLINE:What did Zoe and Selena bring to their roles that most surprised you?
AUDIARD:Originally in the screenplay, the characters ages were completely different.
The character of Rita, Zoe, was 25.
The character of Manitas, or Emilia, was 30.
Epifania [Adriana Paz] was 17.
I realized the second I saw them that I had written the wrong age for these women.
That they were actually women of 40 with the experience of 40-year-old women.
So thats what I saw.
That was a shock to me as well.
And then Zoe and I started working together.
We rehearsed, and the job was done.
The thing about Zoe is that she comes from dance.
She can act, she can sing, she can dance.
I didnt know what a huge media presence she had or how public her life was.
And in fact, it went so quickly that I dont think she really believed me at first.
DEADLINE:You move deftly from one genre to another.
In your formative years, what artists and films most inspired the direction that youve taken in your career?
AUDIARD:I need to kind of distinguish two things to start with.
I didnt come to cinema that quickly.
I started being an editor around that the age of 24.
I think what was really important was what came before that: my years as a cinephile.
I really adored cinema.
Its difficult for me to pick specific names.
And that has really changed nowadays.
DEADLINE:In what way has it changed?
Its simply my personal experience.
The digital flow crushed everything.
And what do we keep from that?
But Im not sure that we should call that cinema.
Maybe they need to get to work thinking of a new name for this.
Initially, cinema was analog.
It was intimately connected with the real.
If you had a certain amount of light and a duration, you could record reality.
Now that pact with reality has been broken.
The machine can now create these things, and the reality will now be a false reality.
DEADLINE:Have you got a next film youll jump into?
So now Im not sure what Im going to do next.
My pockets are empty.
