For Emilie Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón, playing the lead role was something she knew she had to fight for. But she didn’t just want to play Emilia – she also insisted on playing the character Before her gender affirmation surgery, when she was known as Manitas del Monte, a violent and overtly masculine Mexican cartel leader.

“I knew I was ready to lead by example, as they say in Spain,” she says with a laugh while speaking with Weekly Entertainment. “I proposed (to play both roles) to (director) Jacques (Audiard) because I knew I could do it perfectly.”

In this vivid, delightfully daring and soapy musical, Manitas fakes her own death with the help of embattled lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldana) and transition into the woman they always wanted to be. After years in hiding, Emilia emerges, homesick for her family – her wife Jessie (Selena Gomez) and their two young sons — whom she left behind. So, she employs Rita again to reunite her with her family while keeping her secret.

In an interview conducted in Spanish and translated into English, Gascón tells EW why she wanted to play Emilia before and after her transition and what she hopes audiences take away from the film’s Mexican themes.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why did you insist on playing Emilia before and after her transition?

KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN: There are a lot of things the film talks about without being direct, which is why I wanted to experience doing both parts. You’re right, I insisted on playing both roles because I know my abilities and I knew I was ready to do it. to show a basta button (show as an example), as they say in Spain, that I had the ability to play the character. When you know what you want to do and you can do it, fight for it. This is advice that I can give to everyone: go towards what they believe in, towards their dreams and towards what they believe they can do good. But let’s say that if I had studied astronomy, I would be the one who wanted to go to space, right? That’s why for me (as a trans woman), I wanted to do both parts.

Has playing both roles affected you in any way?

The journey of playing both roles has been wonderful for me and, in a way, a dream because it has allowed me to experience being human in both forms. To be clearer, the experience of the polarities that divide us, that should not divide us, of masculine and feminine, some good and evil, and violence and love. It’s a beautiful game to be able to get into something so deep and so well constructed. Because we ran the risk that if (the film) had been otherwise, it could have turned out to be very, let’s say, very superficial. All in all, being part of such an important project was a wonderful experience. I loved portraying both sides of this character because I think they give him an arc, which can rarely be achieved by acting alone. Being able to play someone like this is quite a challenge for any type of actor or actress.

How do you hope the Latino/Hispanic community will receive the film and its themes?

I think a wonderful thing happened outside of the performances. Socially, a sort of pineapple was created around the community and around my character. Everyone is looking forward to seeing her, hoping that wonderful things will happen to her and also hoping that Spanish will finally be heard more in the world. I think there are so many times when the Latino community feels ignored or relegated. So, minority after minority after minority trans people have rallied around me because I feel like I represent so many minorities. At the end of the day, we Hispanics are such a big mountain of love and emotion.

Netflix has a huge global audience. Do you think the world is open and ready to discover Latin American and Hispanic cinema?

Latin America is full of wonders everywhere and Mexico is full of amazing things that people don’t know about. The first time I went to Mexico, I felt ignorant. I left with the idea that this was the country I was sold in the old movies, that it was a desert with four gentlemen with hats and mustaches and cacti everywhere. But then I began to discover a country full of wonders, full of riches, wonderful archeology and Aztec Mayan culture. You travel around Latin America and discover that there is so much to discover. What can I tell you about the Inca people? What can I tell you about all the natural and architectural beauties they have in all parts of South America, Central America and North America? We also have a language. It’s incredible that we haven’t even appreciated the cultural richness of Spain and the world… Sometimes we should be more united than we are. I think we have a lot to give to the world, a lot to learn and obviously a lot to improve, but I think we are united. We are people who want to work, advance and enjoy life.

What did you learn from this film that you hope to take with you from now on? Do you want to make films in the United States?

I want to work with people who offer me the most beautiful characters and I will go everywhere! If the job is in Hollywood, I’ll go to Hollywood. If it’s Taiwan, I’ll go to Taiwan! Doing new and different things fills me with excitement, but it also has a very tiring part of starting over and over again. Actors and actresses in the end, we always start. This project ends and at the end you have to prove it again and again in the next job. It is a very hard and long path, but also very beautiful.

Emilie Pérez is now streaming on Netflix.