Tejano pop icon Selena Quintanilla is still beloved by millions 25 years after her tragic death, and that makes bringing her to life onscreen tricky. No one knows that better than Christian Serratos (OK, and her and Jennifer Lopez), the star of Netflix's Selena: The Series. Serratos, who is best known for her roles in The Twilight Saga and on The Walking Dead, had the huge responsibility of capturing Selena's spirit, but what about her voice — is Christian Serratos really singing in Selena: The Series?
Music is at the heart of Selena, and it's the one area where the voice of the real Selena could be incorporated in the show. With the exception of a few a Capella moments, Serratos deferred to real tracks of the pop star singing, including some rare performances from the artist when she was young. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 podcast, the Netflix series' co-showrunner Moises Zamora revealed that Selena's family gave him unprecedented access to rare videos and recordings of the star to use in the series.
"I think that was very important for everyone to be able to showcase Selena's music, starting from the early days to the most current stuff that she released," Zamora said. "We're happy to say that Selena's voice will be featured, and the original music. And there will be some a Capello versions with Christian Serratos and some of the other cast members."
Even though she wasn't tasked with replicating Selena's singing voice throughout the series, Serratos went to great lengths to nail the singer's Texas drawl. Right from the start, the actor knew what a huge responsibility she was taking on, and she wanted to ensure her depiction of the Grammy-winning artist was as authentic as possible.
"I had never had this much responsibility before, and I just wanted to use every resource that I could," Serratos explained to Entertainment Tonight. "So I started working with a dialect coach on my own before I had the job, which I think was really helpful. I started working with my singing coach, who I love so much, Eric Vitro, before I booked the job, and he also helped me with the audition."
Serratos Was Given The Opportunity To Sing In Selena, But She Wanted To Keep The Focus On The Tejano Star
Despite only singing a little for the show, Serratos has a beautiful singing voice that she's used on camera before. In 2013, she starred as aspiring singer Roxie Santos in the movie Pop Star (also know as Lip Service), and at the time, she expressed interest in mixing her passion for singing and acting again in the future. During a red carpet interview with ClevverTV, she said, "Now that I've gotten the opportunity to be singing again and to join the two, and be singing and acting in a film was really cool."
But even though she was given the opportunity to sing in Selena, she felt it was important that the artist's music be used instead. For Serratos, deferring to the real Selena was about showing respect for the late singer and ensuring that she could play a role in telling her own story.
"I recorded quite a few songs, and I think it was always supposed to be the actress singing but … I always wanted it to be Selena because I was such a fan," she explained to Variety. "I always wanted to act in films where I got the opportunity to just sing. They were like, 'Here's your chance to show people you can sing.' I was like, 'But it's not about me; it’s never been about me.' I just want the fans to see their girl. I want them to see their girl. I don't want to hear me. I want to hear Selena."
Even though Serratos doesn't sing in Selena: The Series, it's evident that she poured her heart into the role. And the combination of her acting with Serena's music allows the Netflix series to let the Tejano star's voice shine.
Images: Netflix