Noemi Gonzalez as Suzette in Netflix’s ‘Selena: The Series’

Appearing in film, theatre, and television, Noemi Gonzalez has charmed audiences with her stunning performances.

Best known for her portrayals of Soli Gomez in Hulu’s East Los High and Mia Rosales in CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, Gonzalez will now play one of her most impactful and meaningful roles: Suzette Quintanilla in Netflix’s Selena: The Series.

Following the late Tejano singer, the show explores Selena’s journey as a young artist. From singing small gigs in Corpus Christi, Texas with her family to becoming one of the most successful Latinx artists of all time, audiences will see the years of grit and sacrifice the Quintanilla family went through. No matter how hard it got, they never stopped being a family first.

Suzette was a strong and stable force in Selena’s life, and Gonzalez wanted to make sure she did the character justice. She even changed her appearance and learned how to play the drums.

Gonzalez took some time to talk with OUT FRONT about Selena: The Series, what it personally meant for her to play Suzette, and why Selena’s story still resonates with people today.Hi, Noemi! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about Netflix’s Selena: The Series. You play Selena’s sister, Suzette Quintanilla. What can audiences expect, and what do you hope they take away from the show?
Audiences can expect great nostalgic family vibes. They can expect to see the coming-of-age story of Selena, her star, and I hope that people take away the importance of love, family, beauty, and sharing it when the times are tough. This family has humble roots, humble beginnings, and they had the love, positivity, and hard-working ethic to keep moving forward. I think that is the kind of essence that we really need to lean on right now. So, that is what I hope fans take away from it.

What have you personally taken away from this experience?
Ooh, girl! I have taken away so much! I learned how to play the drums, I learned the experience of transforming my hair, body, and image for my role, and I was on location for the first time as a professional. I had the experience of working with Mexico; our crew was 98 percent Mexican.

I got to work on an experience that already had a fanbase, and not only did I learn a lot about myself, but I also learned about the strength of your fellow actors when you are filming during COVID times. You learn the strength of your crew while filming during COVID times as well, but it was a beautiful, beautiful experience. It changed my character and shaped me, and I hope to bring all those lessons to my next jobs.

Can you talk more about how difficult it was to work during these unprecedented times of COVID?
It was very difficult to work under these unprecedented times of COVID. We filmed for the last three months with COVID restrictions, and we are also in Mexico which is a very affectionate culture. We would go to set, and it would be so familial, cozy, and friendly, and it turned to everyone wearing masks, shields, and gloves. I asked one of the execs, how are we going to imitate life when life as we know it has stopped?

That really did present an interesting challenge, but I am very impressed with the whole cast and crew. We poured everything into bringing this story to everyone. It was definitely a challenging time, and now that we are done with the job, I am sure everyone in the cast and crew is like, what’s next? The industry is very different right now, so it has been an interesting journey for everyone. Not just this industry, but all industries are affected by this.

How much fun was it learning to play the drums?
It was so much fun, but incredibly intimidating. The drums are a very demanding instrument. I did not think it was going to be easy, but I went in excited to have some fun. When you think about it, the drums are a full body instrument. There is a lot of coordination. It is also a lot of the structure that the band leans on so they stay on beat. That everyone is on the same page and gets to shine.

It was interesting to provide that structure. I was granted lessons through production. I had a one hour Monday and one hour Friday lesson with our drum instructor and Selena y Los Dinos instructor. Then, I rehearsed every day, twice a day, 30 minutes at least. I definitely had a lot of work cut out for me for something that was so foreign to learn.

Have you always had a love for Selena?
Always. I grew up watching the true story unfold. Then watching the movie, and then staying on top of the legacy. Now I am here in some small part continuing her legacy. It is a huge honor. A very personal, beautiful part of the career that I have. It went full circle for me as a young girl with similar, humble roots to also lean on this family for strength and inspiration. Now that I get to share this story alongside the family is just a huge blessing.

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The love for Selena by fans is intense, even today. Were you under a lot of pressure to fulfill viewers’ expectations?
I was under a lot of pressure to live up to my expectations. Like I said, I am a huge Selena fanatic. I went in knowing how personal this was for me and the roots of this story is profound. It is nice to be connected to this personally, creatively, and professionally. I had a lot of pressure.

I definitely did not have as much pressure as Christian, God bless her; that was definitely a tall order, but I had my own for myself just because Suzette is real; she is here to watch it; she is one of the executive producers, and I have so much respect for how giving this family is. So, I already put that on myself. I did not have to think about the fanbase too much.What drew you to the role of Suzette?
Firstly, my manager called me and asked what I thought about the character. To him, reading it on paper, he just saw that I was very much like her. I said, you know, you aren’t wrong. Let’s go in there and let’s do it. That fact that she is a supportive woman, a supportive sister and a team player is what I really like about her. She had to navigate being in this family, and it is an intense dynamic to be living with such humble roots that you need to get bread and butter on the table and work together as a business and a family.

It was interesting to see how she copes, and I noticed how much she questioned things. She was always emotionally intelligent and curious about why we do this, why we do that, how come we now have to change it. A lot of people can mistake that for being combative, but some people work best when they understand the whys behind why we do what we do.

I think that is a cool aspect of her character, as the other woman in this family and the older sister. It is cool to see the difference between the three women in this family and that Suzette provided a lot of brevity. Laughing off their dynamic, and also a lot of love and support as a momma bear, sister, and bandmate. I think Suzette is a dynamic, well-rounded, and strong character.

It is awesome that the real Suzette is an executive producer for the show. Did she offer you any advice?
I did not have the experience of having her four feet away from me while performing, and I wish that I did. The family unfortunately could not be with us for filming because of COVID. We had our opportunities to do our characters with space, and I think that was the silver lining in that experience. I really wish I could have picked her brain and asked for drumming tips.

Having the real-life person there is an incredible experience, but things being the way that they are, I think everything worked out the way that it should. We will get the opportunity to meet in person eventually, but we met virtually about three-to-four weeks ago for the first time, so that made it all the more sweet.

Why do you think Selena and her family’s story resonates with so many people?
I think Selena and her family’s story resonates with so many people because a lot of us are out here just trying to thrive. We are fed up with surviving. We just want to thrive, and we want to bring our family and friends along with us. I think that is a very natural pursuit of happiness that not just Americans relate to, but all over the world.

You want to have it all and be a success with your purpose, and you also want to have the love of your family, partner, and friends. It is something to see in a series, story, or movie with a lot of intimacy. You get a real, detailed view of what that is like. Anyone watching is going to relate to that.

How has the chemistry been with everyone on set? Have you all evolved into a family?
It has been so cool! I will never forget our first family dinner scene. I was like an orchestra; it was a dance. All of us stepped up to the plate. I had to make sure I timed my tortilla passing, that the bowl was handed by Gabe at this time, that Christian came in at this moment, Seidy landed on this, and then make sure you took a drink at this time.

I like to say that drumming is sometimes four plates in the air, but that dinner scene was each actor handling four plates in the air while being connected as a family and as a wave together to get to the truth of this scene or moment. It was really beautiful to see how we came together as a family not just in the characters in the stories, but also as professionals. It was wonderful.

Do you have a favorite Selena song?
It’s funny, I keep picking the same one whenever this question comes up. “No Me Queda Más” is an iconic, timeless song. There is just no way around it. That one never moves out of the top three. I have my favorites to listen to versus playing, so now I complicated it even more. “No Me Queda Más” will always be an all time favorite.

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If Selena were still alive, what kind of impact do you think she would be making on society?
If Selena were still alive, she would continuously be making the impact that she was already making when she was 23. She was providing charitable support for domestic abuse organizations preventing abuse to women. She was reaching out to schools and having programs to educate the Latino culture and these bi-cultural communities, especially in Texas. She would be doing so much more and above and beyond because she really understood that, although you don’t sign up to be a role model as an artist, it does come with the territory.

She really leaped into that with such beauty, grace, and a positive attitude. I feel like she would be at soup kitchens and doing major executive orders so people would get support and help and be represented and seen. Then musically, she would totally be like a huge Beyoncé or Lady Gaga in her own right. I think she would have had a huge new genre of Latino R & B that she would be producing with her brother. That kind of sound is something that she was creating, and I think a lot of people would resonate with that sound if she were still around today. It is fascinating to me to think of what she would be doing if she were here.You have appeared in soap operas, teen dramas, and several other projects. Have you always had a passion for acting?
Acting actually found me. I was a singer first. I was singing from 8 years old, and my music teacher moved from elementary to the high school, so I inevitably ended up having the same teacher for 10 years. Then I thought I was going to follow in his footsteps and be a music teacher, and I went to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Someone took care of me at this orientation, this young woman put me into intro acting because she knew I was comfortable in the arts, but I definitely said I still don’t know what I want to do. That is when I found the BFA program at UCSB. As soon as I started to fall into the craft over and over again, I was like, okay, this is what I am going to do.

I did not think I was going to be famous by any means. I just thought I was going to make a living off acting. Be in like regional theatre, voiceovers, or commercial work. I just knew that I loved stretching, and I love learning about new people, cultures, and different things. I wanted to really stretch my spirit in this realm, and here I am still acting!

What are some of your 2021 resolutions?
Oh, I have not put much thought into my 2021 resolutions. To be honest, probably just check in with myself and take very good care of myself so that I stay ready, positive, and light. I feel we are ready as a society to get back to the new normal and let COVID-19 fall by the wayside as soon as possible.

We are ready to hit the ground running. When I started filming, I had to start working out so that I could make sure I can keep up with the days. We went from such a sedentary lifestyle to going, going, going. I feel like I need to stay mentally, physically, and emotionally taken care of so that I can stay on top of whatever God and life has planned for me. I can live up to it whenever it comes my way.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
We did have an international release of The Tax Collector, so I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it. I am also in this Emmy Award-winning show that I am so glad to be a part of called Dark/Web. It is a great show that is on Amazon Prime. If you do not have Amazon Prime, it is now on Blu-ray. You have your options there to watch that. Then there are some things in the works that I cannot wait to hopefully confirm, but for now, I would love for people to check out The Tax Collector, Dark/Web, and Selena: The Series.

Follow Gonzalez on Instagram to stay up-to-date with her latest news and projects. Part one of Selena: The Series premieres on Netflix on December 4.

Photos Courtesy of Vince Trupsin