Selena: The Series' star Christian Serratos on playing the iconic Latin star and admiring JLo: 'Selena shoes were big, Jennifer’s shoes were big'

Selena: The Series' star Christian Serratos on playing the iconic Latin star Selena Quintanilla

Video Transcript

- There's no Beatles without Ringo. And there's no Selena without Susan.

CHRISTIAN SERRATOS: I so badly wanted to do a good job and pay respect to her and her fan base and her family and everybody. You know, as a Selena fan, you want to be like, don't [BLEEP] this up. [LAUGHS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NURYS CASTILLO: How intense was it to step into this role of Selena as someone who is so iconic and was also portrayed by someone else like Jennifer Lopez before?

CHRISTIAN SERRATOS: I'm such a fan of what Jennifer did in the first film. And I grew up watching that movie. I knew that Selena's shoes were big, Jennifer's shoes were big. And I was gonna have to do my job if I knew what was good for me. [LAUGHS] Playing Selena was kinda a landmark moment in my career. And I was so excited when I saw the trailer. And I can't wait to see it.

NURYS CASTILLO: Did you end up speaking to her? Did you get any advice from her?

CHRISTIAN SERRATOS: Hopefully soon I get to do that, you know, because I'm such a fan of hers in general.

NURYS CASTILLO: How is the process, like, to the casting? Did you study her? Did you study how she was, like, walking and talking, and, like, her videos? Did you speak to the family?

CHRISTIAN SERRATOS: Everything that I could get my hands on, I did. I used YouTube a lot. There's so many incredible pieces of footage of her out there. I just studied everything I could in English and in Spanish. The audition process was really long, but I was grateful that it was because it gave me an opportunity to prep.

For a while, I didn't know if I was even going to be able to be considered. It was a very quick turnaround, and I had no time. So if I wanted this to be right, I had to start prepping on my own very early. I just pretended like I had the role because it was the only thing that I could do.

Funny enough, I think that really worked out well because we were starting as Selena from a child and working our way up to the legend. And I was learning more about the legend and learning more about myself. As she practiced her Spanish as a kid, I was practicing my Spanish to play her as her. So it really was like such a journey of us finding that legend together I was filming "The Walking Dead." And then in between scenes, I would have different "Walking Dead" cast members help me put myself on tape and then get back into [SPANISH] costume.

NURYS CASTILLO: Selena's someone who really embraced her Mexican-American roots and really fought to be in the forefront. Can you relate to that as well, especially you being a Mexican-American actress in Hollywood?

CHRISTIAN SERRATOS: You know, I've been in this industry since I was a kid. And she was in her industry since she was a kid. And these entertainment industries, you're constantly having to pitch yourself all the time, you know, create your identity as, like, an artist. We're not often, like, offered as many opportunities as, like, our Caucasian counterparts. So often, we weren't thought of as being able to be the leads of our own story or the center of our own universe.

But I think things are getting so much better. And I'm so proud to be able to play somebody who went through the same experiences as me, who I grew up admiring, was awesome Mexican-American. And I'm so proud of my heritage and so proud that the first lead [? acting ?] moment that I'm having is to play Selena. It's such an honor.