Selena: The Series spoilers reveal that the new Selena Quintanilla is Christian Serratos. She isn’t the first to play the singer, and we’re guessing she won’t be the last. Jennifer Lopez rose to superstardom in the late ‘90s for her portrayal of the late Tejano singer. The most recent actress to play her was Maya Zapata, who starred in the Telemundo series El Secreto de Selena. The latest casting was announced in a unique promo. Here’s what you need to know.
Selena: The Series spoilers — The details
Netflix announced Selena: The Series last year. The project is to be a joint venture with the Quintanilla family, and came on the heels of the El Secreto de Selena premiere in Mexico.
The show was promoted as being an official, authorized account of the singer’s life. Netflix scheduled it to premiere in 2020. Little is known about the full cast, or how many episodes it will be. It’s also not known if they’ll break the story up over several seasons, or do one season. The promo offers a couple of interesting hints about what it will look like.
Selena: The Series — The promo
The video released seems more of a casting announcement than a proper promo. The clip opens with a woman reading a script, who then dresses in the famous purple outfit Selena wore during the Astrodome concert.
The actress walks through various sets, interacting with other characters. She passes by Marcela Quintanilla in a kitchen, before walking outside to embrace Abraham Quintanilla. Finally, she heads toward a stage, where she greets who is clearly playing the young Selena. It closes with her doing one of the singer’s iconic hits before the action is broken by someone on set addressing the actress.
In an interesting side note, eagle-eyes fans on YouTube said that the man playing Abraham is the same one who played a young Abraham in the original movie. They also identified Marcela as being played by the same actress who portrayed Selena’s cousin in the film. Of course, no official word on that, yet.
Selena: The Series — Background
The 29-year-old Serratos might be a familiar face to many. Her bio includes playing Rosita Espinosa on The Walking Dead, as well as being part of the Twilight Saga films. She played Angela Webber in the movie franchise. Besides that, she’s also done a lot of guest spots on shows like 7th Heaven and American Horror Story: Murder House. Based on the promo, we think she’s going to do a good job of playing Selena. Of course, fans are going to have to wait to learn more about the show as the premiere gets closer.