Christian Serratos, Selena's new face between criticism and praise - Magazine like this - Opinion Bolivia

"There was a time when I thought: 'Do I want this pressure?", Says Christian Serratos.Can you blame it?In what other way can it be processed to interpret Selena Quintanilla Pérez, the beloved queen of Tejana music simply as Selena, whose lasting legacy and devotee fans base remain firm a quarter of a century after her murder in 1995. The singer Mexico American AmericanHe has been immortalized in t -shirts and handbags, inspired a Mac Cosmetics makeup line, received an honorary star on the Paseo de la Fame and promoted innumerable taxes of Halloween costumes.She even inspired a university course at the State University of San Diego.

And the pressure does not end there.Serratos is following in the footsteps of Jennifer López, who played the late singer in the biographical film, in 1997, "Selena", who catapulted López's career to new heights and that has become a contemporary classic, in great rotation inLatin households.Comparisons are inevitable.

In the end, however, Serratos decided that he could endure the weight.And so, the 30 -year -old actress, known among "Walking Dead" enthusiasts for her role as Rosita Espinosa, promised to channel Quintanilla in "Selena: the series" Denetflix, who tells the story of the singer from her birth since her birthUntil she was shot in her hometown, Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president of her fans club, Yolanda Saldívar, at age 23.

"I knew that getting this was going to be difficult for a series of reasons," says Serratos.“I had to be very careful and be very respect for everything that fans love and everything she was for her family.And I knew she would never make everyone happy.She knew it because she had that star quality.We all feel a sense of property when it comes to Selena: she is my colleague, that's my family, that's my sister. "

Recently the filming of the second ended, and last, season, under the health protocols against COVID-19, and before that he tried to make the most of the time he spent at home during the pandemic with his 3-year-old daughter,Wolfie, and her husband, musician David Boyd.

The emotions were in the flower at all times.Remember when her best friend sent him a photo of the advertising fence of the series that was put along Sunset Boulevard."I cried and she said," Oh, are you excited? "And I was like," I'm not terrified! "

She explains: “The concept of coming to light really terrified me.Until now, Selena has been ours.Selena has been something very valuable and vulnerable that I could share with the cast and the team. "

Serratos assures that he feels a visceral connection with what Quintanilla and his eternal myth represent.Known as the Queen of Tex-Mex, the singer closed the gap between her Mexican heritage and her American roots with a mixture of Mexican traditional musical forms and conventional pop, in songs like "like the flower" and "the carcacha”

"We both grew as Mexican-American and fight with things like the language and want to feel included," says Serratos, who speaks Spanish but says it is not perfect.“And he had been trying to break into his industry for so long, and many times, it was not easy for her because it was a girl, it was Latin ... and all the things that made her a legend and made her a star whenIt was a child.I felt it desperately trying to convince people that her ideas were innovative, and she trusted so much, and that I really admire. ”As a result, Serratos dedicated himself to paper, even before reserving her work.

He searched in the vault of articles and videos of the Internet, studying the gestures, movements and vocal patterns of the late singer, while trying to dig up the essence that made her so loved by fans.An attempt to see the film directed by Gregory Nava, which had been a crucial source of entertainment while she grew up, lasted only a few minutes: "I wanted to learn from her."

With the approval of the Quintanilla family, which participated in the realization of the series and in the 1997 feature film, Serratos was chosen and left the ninth season of “The Walking Dead” early to start working in the Netflix series.

Christian does not remember when he first learned about the singer.It's like trying to remember the first time he ate a peanut butter sandwich.She knows that she was young, she probably had 4. “Her songs were always present.They were always playing at our house, ”she says.

As an only child, Serratos grew in the Bubank area.Her mother is a jewelry designer and her father builds Hollywood decorations.When she was a child, while visiting her father in the studies, she had her first contact with a life in front of the camera;Sometimes, she put her to work as a background actress in programs such as "The Drew Carey Show" and "Coach."

But Serratos was not the kind of girl who knew from an early age that all I wanted to do was act.For approximately a decade, she was a competitive artistic skater.If she is honest, she says, which finally led her to act is that she was lucrative.

"My mother was a single working mother, so she prepared us for a while," he acknowledges Serratas, who got papers in Nicke-Lodeon and Disney Channel.“In a way I liked it to start that way and not that I really wanted to be in Hollywood and strive so much on my own, because it helped me to fall in love with the industry more and more as I invested time in it.I think it's a great way to fall in love with something or realize what you want over time.That makes it much more honest.You can change your way in life whenever you want, but I'm still choosing to act. ”

At 18, he got the role of Angela Weber, a friend of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), in the popular "Twilight" franchise.But it could be said that her most important role to date has been Rosita Espinosa in "The Walking Dead" since her fourth season, becoming a central character during the execution of the program.

"Selena: The series" gives Serratos its first main role.She is already feeling how that has changed her as an actress.

"I learned to drive to be in an incredible position of power," he says.“And I am happy that the first time I had the responsibility and I had the opportunity to be a leading woman, I am playing this woman.Because she taught me a lot and she is someone to admire.She has taught me to handle being in that position, as a woman and as a minority.I am very happy with the experience, ”she concludes.