TORONTO — Undoubtedly one of the most exciting and original films of the year is “Emilia Perez,” which is set to play at Toronto International Film Festival on Monday night. Directed by Jacques Audiard, the French master of mixing genres in films such as “A Prophet,” “Rust and Bone” and “The Sisters Brothers,” the film is a dramatic crime saga about a Mexican drug lord who transitions to being a woman.

And it’s also a musical. The film stars Karla Sofía Gascón in the title role and the cast also includes Edgar Ramirez, Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez. When the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, the jury jointly awarded Gascón, Paz, Saldana and Gomez with the best actress prize. On Sunday, the film’s cast stopped by the L.A. Times studio to chat.

Selena, you recently posted a video of yourself bursting into tears of joy when you first found out you had been cast in the movie. Why was it so meaningful to you even before shooting the movie?

Selena Gomez: For multiple reasons. First, foremost, I’m a huge fan of Jacques. I had just recently watched his movies and I fell in love with the script. And then from there, it just honestly was a no-brainer. But I wanted this part so bad, I just knew it was going to be special. I definitely didn’t expect all the great things, but we worked really hard. We followed Karla’s lead and it was amazing.

Edgar, I find when I try to describe the story to people, it’s hard to explain. How did you find the story when you first read it?

Edgar Ramirez: It’s true, it’s not an easy movie to just point out, “This movie’s about this.” And I join Selena’s opinion on Jacques. I’m a huge fan of Jacques. He’s one of the best directors in the world, who always exhibits a very profound curiosity and compassion toward his characters and his subjects. Who takes risks, always delves himself into worlds that are miles and miles apart from himself, but in a very respectful and compassionate way. We’re all Latin American. I mean, this is a full Latin cast. And this is a very, very Latin American story directed by a French man, who actually did it with the utmost compassion. And what I felt reading the script, to go straight to your question, is that he did not, and never has in his entire filmography, he has never shied away from confronting contradiction. These characters are all filled with contradictions.

The polarity of the characters change constantly, all of them, they exhibit very violent, very questionable traits and also very tender, very relatable traits. And that’s basically the human complexity. Because human nature is complicated, human nature has multiple layers. And I think that’s why the movie’s so interesting. I’m so lucky that I was part of an effort to tell the stories of these four interesting women, because it’s a story of Latin America portrayed through the lives of four women who are trying to find their authenticity, to reclaim their identity, their agency, their independence and their freedom. I think that ultimately this is a movie about freedom. Freedom from society, freedom from yourself, freedom from your burdens, from your sins, from your sense of guilt and the possibility of change and the possibility of having second chances, of doing it all over again.

Adriana, you have a very successful career in Mexico. Has it been meaningful to you that this movie in particular is the one that’s breaking you to a wider international audience?

Adriana Paz: Of course. Here we are here in Toronto; this is my second time, but this movie is huge. And I also admire Jacques Audiard. And I feel that when you see Jacques Audiard movies, they are all different but they share something in particular for me, and I think you’re going to agree. It’s love. Love and commitment. Not with society, with yourself. And it’s what makes his movies so tender and so important.

Jacques Audiard, who’s crazy in the best way because he’s never attached to his own ideas and he’s always open. And that’s challenging. He was like, “OK, we’re going to do this scene this way.” And then the next day he is like, “No, that is not working. ... I have been watching Selena and Zoe and Karla and let’s try another thing.” That’s amazing because that is playing itself. And I think that brings the movie this vitality and its creativity.

Zoe, the movie is among many things a musical, and a lot of people have noted that it really draws on the breadth of your talents, singing and dancing and having a dramatic performance. Is that something that appealed to you right from the start?

Zoe Saldana Yes, it did. But in a sense of like, “Oh, I can do those things.” I danced my whole life, my whole childhood. I sing in the shower, but I’ve never really pursued it professionally. I mean, I did a couple of songs in the “My Little Pony” movie and then “The Book of Life,” but never really pursued this as a career. And Jacques really gave me this whole package that was so challenging, so enticing, and he made me feel welcomed to come and play. So it wasn’t like something that I just felt I’m throwing myself into this unknown and I hope I don’t fail because it’ll be a scary thing. No, no, no, he wanted you to bring all your nuances, your interpretation of your character and remain open so that he can mold you like clay. And that’s what I did. And I think that my background as a dancer gave permission, gave me access to be able to do that for him. It was a reconnection that I never thought I was ever going to have. It’s a part of my craft that I’ve yearned to reconnect with and he gave me that, in the form of [the character] Rita. So I’m really grateful.

And at the end, the core of all of this is this desire to be free of the conventional sort of molds that she has been confined to. And the fact that Jacques carried it as a male, he carried it with so much [sensitivity], but also audaciousness. And it was amazing. It really felt like, “OK, I can be my most authentic self as Rita and know that he’s going to capture it.” He’s just going to chip away and find whatever sculpture he’s looking for in all of us.

Karla, besides being the story of a cartel and a musical, the film is also a very nuanced portrayal of the trans experience. Was that an important aspect of the movie to you? What did that mean to you?

Karla Sofía Gascón: To me it means a step forward for a minority of people that have been set aside, that have been rejected by society. And I recently had the opportunity to say this in another interview: I feel like the Joker was, in the movie, somebody who had been bullied and ostracized and rejected and then he has an opportunity to change things for the better. But unlike what the Joker does, which is ending up destroying everything, I feel that thanks to the character of Emilia and thanks to what has been happening to me recently, what we can do is leave a message to people where we say that things can change for real, that there is a different world that’s possible. A different world in which things can be different and in which people don’t need to be influenced negatively by society. So the overall message is, yes, we can.

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