I'm a mexican-american female and now in the year 2009 it seems as if Puerto Rican and Mexican tension is rising. I don't agree with it, but its there. If a Puerto Rican played a Mexican role, hell would brake loose to some people.
Back in 1997 was this an issue? Were Mexicans upset that a Puerto Rican played Selena? My family members don't remember anything said about it..but thats just them.
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Yes, it was an issue back then. What bugs the hell out of me is people kept saying (and still do) suggest that Salma Hayek would have been a better choice. I respect Salma Hayek but I think she was and still is all wrong, or at least not as good as Jennifer for the part for 2 big reasons.
1. She bears no resemblance to Selena whatsoever-I am by no means saying that Jennifer ever beared a great facial resemblance to Selena and I'm not saying every person who has a biopic should be portrayed by someone who could pass for their double(just a little similarity is enough), but Salma looks even less like Selena. Like not even a little. Plus, Jennifer's figure is very close, although not exactly like Selena's. Definitely closer than Salma's(Salma has a great body, but still). Seriously, how can people complain that Jennifer doesn't resemble Selena enough and then suggest Salma?
Salma
http://tvmedia.ign.com/tv/image/article/898/898234/untitled-salma-haye k-wedding-reality-series-20080812025220268.jpg
http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/salma-hayek-cocktail-party-and -intimate-dinner-in-celebration-of-the-cartier-charity-love-bracelet-1 jIK0U.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/callravi/Ron8SbsMqiI/AAAAAAAACDg/XGyzWNvFgxk/Salm a-Hayek.jpg
Selena
http://sp0.fotolog.com/photo/16/23/89/selena_diosavive/1243096240845_f .jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/selena%20quintanilla%20perez/LadyLy can2000/album2/Selena_quintanilla_perez.jpg
http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/selena-selena-quintanill a-perez-783293_305_394.jpg
2. Salma has a very thick Mexican accent. How much sense would it make for Selena who was American and of course spoke English and Spanish with an American accent being played with someone with such an obvious Mexican accent. I have no disrespect for Salma's accent, I just think it's huge strike against her as a casting choice for Selena.
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correct Salma decided to do Frida instead of Selena she didn't want to play two important Mexican people but only 1
shareButterk, I agree with everything you say but I think your point would have more effect if you show Selma in say 1995 around the time they would have been considering her.
And I'm just realizing now how close it actually was to her death. They had to start work on it like right after her death. I'm glad they did but as a kid I didn't understand how long it took to make a movie.
I'm Puerto Rican, no one mentioned or thought it was an issue at all. We were actually happy for Jennifer Lopez and fans of Selena.
shareSalma has a very thick Mexican accent. How much sense would it make for Selena who was American and of course spoke English and Spanish with an American accent being played with someone with such an obvious Mexican accent. I have no disrespect for Salma's accent, I just think it's huge strike against her as a casting choice for Selena.
This doesnt seem like a good enough reason to not cast Salma. When it comes to accents they get speech coaches to coach them thru to a American accent. Gael Garcia Bernal did it for one of his roles. And many more actors change their accents to fit their roles so this is not a valid point.
My Love http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/Devenir83/loves.jpg
When it comes to accents they get speech coaches to coach them
Salma Hayek herself admitted she didn't believe she could do the role justice. She doesn't sing and she doesn't believe she's very good dancer.
sharePersonally, I think people shouldn't be upset. I'm a Puerto Rican and I wouldn't care if a Mexican or Puerto Rican played the part. I have lots of Mexican and Puerto Rican friends.
shareYes it would have been so stupid for Salma to play the part. Jennifer Lopez did a wonderful job and the make-up artist really knew how to make J.Lo resemble Selena. Salma is too thin and isn't able to speak like Selena did.
share[deleted]
"This doesnt seem like a good enough reason to not cast Salma. When it comes to accents they get speech coaches to coach them thru to a American accent. Gael Garcia Bernal did it for one of his roles. And many more actors change their accents to fit their roles so this is not a valid point."
In Salma's case I think it is. I mean Salma's been doing English language movies for a long time and she still has a thick Mexican accent. I doubt she would have been able to imitate Selena's accent by the time they were filming the movie.
Salma doesn't fit the role at all to me. Jlo did and owned it.
The best things are last
they have speech coaches for that stuff. Diane Kruger was able to pull off a different accent for inglorious bastards.
My Love http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/Devenir83/loves.jpg
I never had a problem with the casting; I'm Mexican-American, and to me, Mexicans and Puerto-Ricans are "cousins."
I'm Mexican and I consider all Latinos my "hermanos", whether they're PR, Dominicans, Cubans, Black, white, mestizo (like me), mulatos, I know not all Latinos feel the same way but I do and I think JLO did a great job.
Go hard and show me that you really want me & maybe I'll give you the time of day...
This is always an issue when it comes to movies about Latinos. Who cares if a Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc. plays a Mexican or vice versa. In my opinion, J-Lo was right for that role. All Hispanic nationalities should put their differences aside and finally unite as one people. In my opinion, "La Raza" is Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Cubans Puerto Ricans, Dominicans. Hopefully this unity can become a reality someday.
shareWho cares if a Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc. plays a Mexican or vice versa.
I'm Mexican and I consider all Latinos my "hermanos", whether they're PR, Dominicans, Cubans, Black, white, mestizo (like me), mulatos,
What about Lou Diamond Phillips who has played a few Mexican-American roles without being Latino at at all?
Anyway, yeah, Salma Hayak would have been a poor pick. Aside from the wrong accent, she doesn't move gracefully and her chest is too big and her butt is too small. Jennifer Lopez was a very good pick. She could dance and she had almost as much sass as the real Selena. But, one of the few times an actress is not quite as attractive as the real person she is playing.
I actually think Jennifer is much prettier than Selena, and playing Selena she was prettier. Her eyes were bigger and I've always been a sucker for cheekbones.
Not only did makeup and hair make Jennifer look like Selena, but Jennifer also had a past as a dancer which I felt helped her a lot in portraying Selena on stage.
I'm not reading your manifesto, keep your damn posts short!
Another thing I should add is that Al Pacino who is an Italian-American actor has portrayed Latino characters twice in his career. The first was as Tony Montana, a Cuban, in Scarface. That role along with "Michael Corleone" in The Godfather trilogy, is one of his famous roles. And his second Latino role was as Carlito Brigante, a Puerto Rican, in Carlito's Way. Just like Casino was the so-called sequel to Goodfellas, it's the same situation between Scarface and Carlito's Way. In both movies, Pacino got both accents(Cuban and Nuyorican) down and spoke them perfectly. And the only problems that the Cuban-American community, particularly in Miami, Fla. had against Scarface was that they thought Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was backing the movie's production financially and that the movie itself was representing the Cuban-American community in a negative way. But they had no complaints about Al Pacino playing a Cuban in Scarface or I'm sure Puerto Ricans had no complaints about him portraying one of them in Carlito's Way. But actor Jay Hernandez who is Mexican-American portrayed the young Carlito in Carlito's Way: Rise To Power which is the prequel to the Pacino version. And I'm sure Puerto Ricans probably objected to that. But the way I see it, who cares if non-Mexican Latinos portray Mexicans or Mexican-Americans and vice versa or even Italian-Americans(particularly of Sicilian descent)portray Latinos in movies or TV shows. As long as they play the parts perfectly, there should be no problem.
shareVery well said aaronalmarez. I think JLo did a great job with portraying Selena regardless that one was Mexican-American and the other is PR. I never understood why this was an issue. Isn't it time to put this craziness aside and learn to come together as a people? And to add to your list of actors with different ethnic backgrounds playing a character of another ethnic background, JLo also played an Italian-American in The Wedding Planner. As an Italian-American, I was not insulted that they didn't cast someone like Monica Bellucci instead. Who cares? It's a non-issue. Just get over it.
shareThey made him cuban in scarface remake but the original Scarface movie is a white guy so why they made him cuban I don't know but race doesn't really matter because in the original story he isn't cuban. Portraying a real life character is different.
shareYes but Cuban is not a race in and of itself. And being that Pacino is white then the remake is still actually about a white guy, except they made him Latino(also not a race) this time around. So the character of Tony Montana in this version of 'Scarface' would accturately be described as being a white Cuban/Latino.
shareYes, you are right. Still I see no reason why they changed him into a Cuban anyways, he could have been Italian.
http://www.beyondblackwhite.com/-My community
Obviously I cannot say why the character's nationality was changed to being Cuban. However the screenplay for the 1983 version was written by Oliver Stone, so perhaps he wanted to add some sort of political angle dealing with refugees from The Mariel boatlift and all the violent criminal activity(mainly drug related) that soon engulfed the city of Miami in the early eighties after their arrival.
shareHell would've broken loose if an El Salvadorian played Selena.
shareI remember the bigger issue being that they settled on JLo pretty early on but pretended to look at a bunch of Mexican actresses before announcing her: Salma, obviously, but also Itati Cantoral and Bibi Gayton (none of whom were right at all, IMO).
I dunno. Much ado about nothing really.
There is a man...he travels fast...he has purpose...he brings violence and destruction.
I lived in Texas at the time they were filming Selena and HELL YES Mexican-Americans were up in arms about a Nuyorican playing Selena... at least in Houston.
I honestly had no idea Salma was vying for the role and I agree with all of you that Salma would've been so very wrong for that part. I don't think she can do an American accent to save her life. lol
Anyway, I think that J Lo did a great job, regardless of what ethnicity she is.
Salam Hayek declined the role because she realized she didn't have the skill sets necessary to pull it off.
shareHey Youngster, Freddie Prinze was Puerto Rican/German and he played a Chicano in Chico and the Man.
Later Ira Angustain, an almost clone of Freddie Prinze played him in a biopic of his life and Ira was Ameri-Mex and he played a person of partial Puerto Rican ancestry.