Is this the year of Selena Gomez?
After a historic best actress win at the Cannes Film Festival for her turn in Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” which she shared with her castmates Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz, the influential superstar of Hulu’s murder-mystery romp “Only Murders in the Building” just landed her first acting nomination for her role as the dry-witted Mabel Mora, a resident of the Upper West Side apartment building, the Arconia.
Competing against Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”), Jean Smart (“Hacks”), Maya Rudolph (“Loot”) and Kristen Wiig (“Palm Royale”), Gomez is the fourth Latina to be nominated in the category’s history following Rita Moreno for “9 to 5” in 1983, America Ferrera’s two noms for “Ugly Betty” in 2007 and 2008 and Jenna Ortega for “Wednesday” last year. Ferrera is the only winner among the trio.
Gomez’s third consecutive nomination for an outstanding comedy series makes her the most-nominated Latina producer in Emmy’s history. Only the third to be recognized in the category, Gomez follows Mexican multi-hyphenate Salma Hayek for ABC’s “Ugly Betty” in 2007 and Cuban producer Marlis Pujol, who was nominated for two consecutive years for Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method” in 2020 and 2021.
Noteworthy, only one Latina woman has won as a producer in any of the top series categories in history (Celia D. Costas for “Angels in America” in 2004).
Proudly identifying as a third-generation American-Mexican (her father is Mexican, and her paternal grandparents were born in Monterrey), Gomez’s inclusion is fresh air for Latin representation in Hollywood.
Gomez shared her potential excitement for setting the record during an episode of the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast in June, saying,” I didn’t even know that, so these little nuggets of information keep me going. They make me proud. I’ve always been proud of my last name, heritage, and culture, but I need to stop more and realize how great this is. If it’s true, I can’t wait to tell my dad.”
Season 4 of the popular comedy series will bow on August 27. The new season follows Charles, Oliver, and Mabel as they grapple with the shocking events surrounding the death of Charles’ stunt double and friend, Sazz Pataki. They also learn that a Hollywood studio wants to make a movie out of their podcast.
