Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard says it was a simple decision for him to cast a trans woman in the title role of his award-winning film.
Audiard, whose film picked up a Best Actress award shared between the female cast at Cannes Film Festival this summer, cast Spanish trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón in the role of mobster turned activist. He told The Times of London this weekend:
“It just makes sense to cast a trans woman to portray a trans woman. And the specificity of Karla Sofía is that she transitioned at 46, and that informs her performance. What does it mean to have suffered for 46 years, and then not to suffer any more?”
Of potential controversy arising from the subject matter of the film, Audiard said: “I take a very specific viewpoint here. As an artist I am free to have an opinion and to give my perspective on anything at all, anything that happens in the world. My only red line is, ‘Don’t hurt anyone.’”
Co-starring with Karla Sofía Gascón is Zoe Saldaña as Emilia’s resilient lawyer and consigliere figure, Rita Castro. Audiard said of his mission in making the film which is part musical, part comedy, part crime drama:
“Ultimately, what I wanted to do was to make a film that would make me cry. We live in such dark times that it’s important just to give ourselves the permission to be moved collectively, and to have the opportunity to cry.”
He previously directed titles including The Beat That My Heart Skipped, A Prophet, Rust and Bone, The Sisters Brothers and Paris, 13th District.