Actor Eugenio Derbez walked back his harsh review of Selena Gomez's Spanish in the new musical crime comedy film Emilia Pérez after she responded with class to the tough criticism of not being a fluent speaker.
Gomez stars as Spanish-speaking character Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a cartel kingpin who undergoes gender-affirming surgery to start a new life as the titular Emilia Pérez.
The Only Murders in the Building actor said she studied Spanish for six months in preparation for her role, which eventually garnered her a Best Actress nod in a critically acclaimed movie that was named one of the American Film Institute’s top 10 films of the year.
She mentioned having lost the ability to speak the language fluently since moving to California at a young age to pursue a Hollywood career.
Amid positive buzz for Emilia Pérez, Derbez, who was born and raised in Mexico City, appeared on Gaby Meza’s podcast Hablando de Cine, and criticized Gomez's Spanish-speaking performance, calling it "indefensible."
The CODA star continued:
“I was there [watching the movie] with people, and every time a scene came [with her in it], we looked at each other to say, ‘Wow, what is this?’”
The interview, conducted in Spanish, was shared in a TikTok video seen below.
In the comments section, Gomez responded to the criticism leveled at her, writing:
I understand where you are coming from..I’m sorry I did the best I could with the time I was given."
"Doesn’t take away from how much work and heart I put into this movie."
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Fans had her back.
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Derbez took Gomez's clapback to heart and shared the following message on his TikTok page.
His statement read:
"I truly apologize for my careless comments—they are indefensible and go against everything I stand for. As Latinos, we should always support one another."
The 63-year-old continued:
"There's no excuse. I was wrong, and I deeply admire your career and your kind heart."
"Emilia Pérez deserves to be celebrated, not diminished by my thoughtless remarks. I'm walking away from this with an important lesson learned," Derbez added.
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Social media users shared their thoughts.
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During Gaby Meza's podcast episode, the host acknowledged Gomez as a “very talented actress" and “very good singer."
But the praise ended there.
She dissected Gomez's performance to expose her imperfect Spanish.
"Spanish is neither her primary nor secondary language nor fifth," said Meza, adding:
"And that’s why I feel she doesn’t know what she is saying, and if she doesn’t know what she’s saying, she can’t give her acting any nuance. … And that is why her performance is not only unconvincing but uncomfortable.”
Derbez nodded in agreement, saying:
“I’m glad you’re saying that because I was saying, ‘I can’t believe no one is talking about it?’”
He also couldn't fathom why Gomez's performance was receiving praise and generating awards buzz.
Gomez was awarded the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress prize, along with co-stars Karla, Adriana Paz, and Zoe Saldaña, Sofía Gascón—who became the first trans actress to win at Cannes.
Derbez theorized that non-Spanish-speaking audience members didn't question Gomez's performance in the film because they were too focused on reading subtitles and were oblivious to the uninspired performances.
“I feel like what happens is they don’t speak Spanish,” Derbez maintained.
“If you watch a Russian film or a German film that is subtitled in Spanish and you see someone [speaking in the original language], you say, ‘Oh, look. OK. How interesting.’”
He also undermined the film's French director Jacques Audiard, who based Emilia Pérez on his opera libretto of the same name that was loosely adapted from the 2018 novel Écoute by Boris Razon.
Derbez said of Audiard's film:
“I feel like he did a very interesting experiment. I liked the film apart from Selena’s [scenes] that jump at you because it has manageable things."
"But I was saying, ‘How strange because if the director doesn’t speak English or Spanish and the movie is in Spanish and English, and it takes place in Mexico and you don’t understand the culture.’"
"It’s like if I wanted to make a film in Russian without knowing the culture or Russian and speaking in French.”
Gomez grew up speaking Spanish but said she gradually lost her fluency when she and her family moved to California from Texas.
"I got my first job at 7, and most of my jobs from that point on were English," she recalled with NPR, adding, "I just lost [my Spanish]. That's kind of the case for a lot of people, especially Mexican American people."
She intends to revisit her roots with integrity, which is why she spent nearly half a year dedicated to taking Spanish lessons in preparation for her role.
"I wish I just knew a lot more than I do. But I think that's why I try to honor my culture as much as possible—from releasing an album in Spanish to wanting to pursue this movie," she said.
Gomez noted that Emilia Pérez won't be the last project she does that involves Spanish.
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