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ON MARCH 31, 1995, THE 23-YEAR-OLD TEJANO MUSIC SENSATION SELENA was tragically murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas. “She has always kind of been present. Of course it has a lot to do with her being robbed from us,” says Christian Serratos, who portrays the singer in Netflix’s Selena: The Series, premiering December 4, and made with the blessing of Selena’s family. Serratos, known for her work in Twilight and The Walking Dead, is the second actress to portray the singer in a major project, the first being Jennifer Lopez in the 1996 hit biopic Selena. “I know there’s going to be comparisons, and we’re just going to have to come to terms with that.” But the new series digs deeper. “We’re going to get to spend so much more time with Selena. They’re just going to be overwhelmed with things to look at.” In the end, Serratos hopes the spirit of Selena comes through, particularly because of the impact she has had on so many people’s lives. “She paved the way for me, she paved the way for Jennifer, and so many Latin women and the Latinx community.”
“Selena was always so authentically herself. She was going to be an icon regardless.”