'Selena: The Series' Actress Natasha Perez Fears for Her Safety After Playing the Late Singer's Killer

From Cosmopolitan

• Selena: The Series actress Natasha Perez fears for her safety after playing the late singer's killer.

• Natasha reveals what it's like playing the villain in the series.

Selena: The Series is capturing viewers hearts, but it's a bittersweet watch since we all know how the late singer Selena Quintanilla's story ended. The new Netflix series follows her rise to fame and eventual murder at the hands of Yolanda Saldivar. Now, actress Natasha Perez, who plays Yolanda, is opening up about what it's like to play such a despised villain.

"I remember thinking I'd like to see what it's like playing an evil villain," Natasha told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview. "It sounded fascinating from an actor's standpoint, to dissect what someone like that has going through their minds."

She continued, "I remember working with the director on the scene, and she asked me how I was feeling. I told her I was feeling conflicted. The actress in me is fascinated by the journey of a complex character, but the human in me has all sorts of feelings. The actress in me is also worried for her safety... A lot of people take this very seriously and think that it's real, and in this case, the character is real, but it's not me. I'm not her."

Selena: The Series was created as a two-part limited series. Part 1 consists of nine episodes. The first season follows Selena's childhood up until the 1990 release of her second album, Ven Conmingo. According to a recent Los Angeles Times interview, part 2 wrapped filming recently, but there isn't a release date yet for the second set of episodes. Despite the show's sad ending, Natasha stresses that it isn't about the tragic ending of Selena's life, but rather what she accomplished in her personal and professional life.

"The series isn't about her death," Natasha explained. "Yolanda is there to add tension to what's going on, but what's going on is so beautiful because it's an artist finding herself, an artist emerging and finding her place within her family and society."

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