She rose from appearing on a Nickelodeon show to befriending vampire in the Twilight films and battling zombies on The Walking Dead.
Now Christian Serratos is set to play the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla in the upcoming show Selena: The Series for Netflix.
The 30-year-old actress opened up about the intense ‘pressure’ she felt while trying to capture Selena’s musical magic in an interview with ET on Thursday.
Great expectations: Christian Serratos, 30, told ET on Thursday that she ‘felt so much pressure’ to portray Selena Quintanilla in her upcoming Netflix series about the Tejano singer; shown in September 2019
‘I felt so much pressure to be and bring Selena back to the screen,’ she admitted during a break on set.
‘I know what an important role this is and I know how important it is for all her fans and her family, so I definitely worked really hard to try and be as honestly Selena as I could.’
Part of her transformation into the Texas-born singer required getting a dialect coach in order match her accent, as well as a vocal coach to help her emulate Selena’s powerful singing voice.
‘I had never had this much responsibility before, and I just wanted to use every resource that I could,’ Christian said.
Major role: ‘I know what an important role this is and I know how important it is for all her fans and her family,’ Christian said; Selena pictured at the 1994 Grammy Awards
Painstaking work: Part of her transformation into the Texas-born singer required getting a dialect coach and a singing coach before she even got the part
Part of her success in nailing the audition may have been due to working with coaches before she had even won the part.
‘I started working with a dialect coach on my own before I had the job, which I think was really helpful. I started working with my singing coach, who I love so much, Eric Vitro, before I booked the job, and he also helped me with the audition.’
Even with the expert help, it was her scenes performing on stage as Selena that caused her the most stress during filming.
‘I feel like those are the moments where they’re gonna say like, “Come through! Show up as Selena, let’s go!” Those are the moments that are most fun but also I know are gonna be the most work, because I have to do what the fans want, I have to be her. And that’s a lot of pressure,’ she admitted.
The Walking Dead star added that she hoped fans of Selena would judge the series to be faithful portrait of her life and career.
‘I hope they see the hard work that we have put into it as a crew, and I hope they see the hard work that we have not gotten to see before from Selena,’ she said. ‘I hope they see that it started at such a young age and that you can make a choice at a very young age to do whatever you want to do and you can do it.’
Under pressure: ‘I have to do what the fans want, I have to be her. And that’s a lot of pressure,’ Christian said of her performance scenes
Rise and tragic end: Selena rose to fame in the late ’80s and early ’90s and won a Grammy Award before being gunned down in 1995 by the former manager of her boutique
The real-life Selena’s musical career began when she was only a child in 1981, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s and early ’90s that she came into her own as a performer.
After becoming one of the best-selling Latin artists of the era and winning a Grammy Award, Selena was gunned down in 1995 by Yolanda Saldívar, the former manager of Selena’s boutique.
Jennifer Lopez helped immortalize the singer and launched her own career by portraying her in the 1997 biopic Selena.
The singer’s death was recently the subject of the unauthorized series El Secreto De Selena, but the upcoming Netflix series is being executive produced by the late singer’s father Abraham and her sister Suzette.
Swift rise: Christian’s first major work was on Nickeloden, but she soon graduated to major roles in the Twilight films and on The Walking Dead; pictured in March 2019 in Hollywood
Christian’s first major role was a recurring part on the Nickelodeon series Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, which aired form 2004–2007.
She later played a high school friend of Bella (Kristen Stewart) in multiple Twilight films, along with a role in the pilot of American Horror Story.
But her most prominent role to date has been as Rosita in The Walking Dead.
She was first introduced as part of a new group of survivors in season four, before becoming a featured player in seasons five and six and joining the main cast in season seven and on.