In Conversation: Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña Talk Risk-Taking, Motherhood, and Their Ambitious New Film, ‘Emilia Pérez’

I was like a little sponge, I was like,

I love all of this.

Cut to, you were like a little sponge.

And as soon as they said, Action, Selena.

[Zoe roars] [Selena laughs]

Oh gosh. [gentle music]

Hi, Vogue, I'm Selena Gomez.

I'm Zoe Saldana.

And we are,

[Both] In Conversation.

Okay, I will go first.

If you could swap wardrobes

with an iconic movie character, who would it be?

Oh, it would be Catherine Deneuve's character

in Belle de Jour.

Oh, wow! Because it was all I saw.

I love that. It's really nice.

I don't know why, it's like, Belle de Jour!

Yeah.

Oh, you know, mine's very random.

Okay.

Emma Stone in Poor Things.

[Zoe] Oh my God!

No idea where I'd wear any of those clothes,

but they were so weird and fantastically-

Colorful and beautiful. Yes. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. I second that.

That one was fun.

Okay. Okay.

It's just one.

Name one of your favorite movies

that you think people would be surprised by.

I would say One True Thing,

it's with Renee Zellweger and Meryl Streep.

I don't think a lot of people have seen it,

so that's why I think they'd be surprised

but it's beautiful.

I'm gonna re-watch it.

For me, it's one of Tony Scott's first films,

and it's called The Hunger

and it's with David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve.

It's a vampire movie.

Oh, I love that though.

I do love those kind of movies.

Ooh, okay. Next.

What is your favorite part of the movie making process?

It's just working with the crew.

Yeah.

I love just being in production

and meeting every department

and seeing just how the grips, you know, do their job.

I just really love that experience.

I feel like that's what I take for me.

And then when the film is done and delivered,

that's what, you know, you give to your audience.

Yeah. I mean, I actually agree with that

because without having a connection to the wardrobe,

to the crew, it almost feels a little alienated.

Yeah.

And I love feeling like I'm part of a unit

and I meet the loveliest people that way.

And you're all in this together.

Absolutely! And it feels great.

And you learn a lot, right?

Yes.

What is the most you've ever laughed on set?

Oh, goodness gracious.

Well, I am very fortunate enough

to work with Steve Martin and Martin Short.

Oh my God. Enough said.

And I think that's all I need to say

because this last season there was a scene

where Molly Shannon plays drunk

and she tells all the actors off.

And I, there was never a shot of me going like this

for a second because I could not contain my laughter.

So I'd say that. [Zoe laughs]

For me, I think it was on the set of Avatar.

Yeah.

Jim, working sort of like the cameras

and they call it like a gimbal, like a,

you know, this camera that he built for it.

Every time like it wasn't working

and the system would crash

'cause we were working with so much technology,

sometimes he would lose it a little bit.

And then we all learned, like to lose it ourselves.

And it was just like a funny thing.

I would always try to laugh, always thinking,

okay, how long is this crash gonna be with the system?

And if that's the case, like what are we gonna do?

Sometimes we would play cards. Aw!

Like just waiting for the system to reboot itself.

So I remember just laughing a lot

'cause I thought this was my first time dealing

with like, technology. Yeah.

And understanding that process

and just finding it extremely hilarious.

It's geeky.

No, that's, so I would not know what to do.

I commend you for that.

Okay. Oh wait, was it your turn?

It's your turn. Okay. Thank you.

What is the biggest risk you've ever taken?

No, it's my turn.

Oh. Just kidding.

No, it's your turn.

[both laugh]

So wait, what are we doing?

What is the biggest risk you've ever taken in a performance?

I would say lately it was,

it was playing Rita in Emilia Perez.

[Selena] Yes.

The opportunity to reconnect with ballet,

which was something that I, you know, it's something,

I haven't danced in 20 years.

So there was a lot of self doubt.

Yeah.

Once you do something so well

and then all of a sudden you stop doing it,

you only recognize your mortality.

Yeah. When you reconnect with that

and your body isn't really kind of responding.

So it always felt like I was taking a risk

in terms of like, either, am I getting hurt?

Is this working?

Is this all worth it?

Okay. I would definitely say the same.

I had never really played a mother before,

which is, you know, one of my biggest desires.

Every little nuance to Jessie and Amelia

was very new for me.

High five girl. Come on.

High five. We did it. You brought it. Come on.

[Selena laughs]

What is your tip for managing nerves?

A good tip is reminding yourself to breathe

'cause when we forget to breathe

oxygen stops going to the brain.

Yeah. And that causes panic.

The other tip for work is prepare.

When you are prepared, nothing can get in your way.

No. Then you can play with it.

[Zoe] Yes.

And I definitely agree with that.

For sure.

And I would also, you actually have helped me

'cause I'm a little socially awkward sometimes.

So in moments I'll be shaking

and you'll just, you'll just say like,

Breathe. It's okay, breathe.

And I will remember. And it's true.

I think, you know, there's nerves in everything that we do

where we're excited, we're eager, we're anxious.

It's all of these emotions.

And I think I just try my hardest

to keep my eye on the prize. Yeah.

And just be kind, be professional,

and do the best I can.

Hell yeah. Yeah.

That's it.

Ask me anything.

What is something you've always wanted to ask me?

What is the best thing about being a mom?

The best thing about being a mom

is being raised by your children

while raising them.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah. They teach you so much.

I'm sure.

My sister's 11 and she does that for me.

But I can't imagine, you know, one day being in that role.

Imagine it. It's beautiful.

Yeah.

What do you love most about what you do?

I love the creativity and the freedom to play,

but I have also deeply appreciated the responsibility

I've been given to my audience.

And I cherish that position

even though it can feel intimidating,

but I love making people feel good

or feel anything, whether it's a movie,

a song or something.

I cherish that very much.

You can tell.

What did the film teach you about being a woman

in today's world?

It's a film that adds to the conversation

of what it is to be a woman

and what it is to be a woman means it's complex.

I feel that we're getting to share that.

I reconnected with that,

especially with working with women like you

and working with women like Adriana

and working with women like Karla Sofia Gascon.

I know.

Oh man, it's hard to top that one.

What I learned genuinely is that the boundaries

of creating something as audacious as a film like this,

it felt like we were doing the right kind of pushing.

And I learned a lot through this whole process

from the language, to how every one of the female leads

has their own history.

And it shows women in all forms.

And it just makes me really honored to know

that hopefully this will start conversations

and move people and inspire filmmakers

and other people to create roles,

you know, more roles and opportunities for women.

Love that.

And I just, again,

got to work with all of you guys and that was-

Ditto!

I was like a little sponge.

I was like, I love all of this.

Cut to, you were like a little sponge.

And as soon as they said, Action, Selena!

[Zoe roars] [Selena laughs]

Oh gosh.

After the experience of working in Emilia Perez,

is there a role or are there some roles

that you feel like you wanna explore?

I like to find roles

that conventionally are probably for me,

but I like to challenge the director or the casting director

and just, you know, get in rooms that are a bit tougher

because I appreciate the grind.

You know, there's a lot of movies that are safe to do.

I am more willing to take risks.

Yeah. I echo that.

Yeah.

That's that's pretty much it.

It's more like I, there's not a specific role.

[Selena] No.

I surprise myself.

Yeah. Oh, I love that.

I needed it.

I needed to surprise myself,

but I didn't think that

I was gonna be able to pull this off.

And then when they recognized us as an ensemble,

it was a validation that I think I needed

to keep going, to stay curious.

So maybe it's, what wouldn't I do next?

Yeah. I love that!

Thank you guys so much for watching.

We've been In Conversation for Vogue, Selena and myself.

Thank you.

[gentle music]