The Oscar-contending tune was written by Clément Ducol and Camille.
In Jacques Audiard’s highly-unconventional musical Emilia Pérez — which debuts in select U.S. and Canadian theaters today en route to a Nov. 13 debut on Netflix in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. — Selena Gomez gives the performance of her career as the wife of a Mexican cartel chief. Indeed, she and her principal female costars were jointly awarded the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress prize.
The role calls on Gomez to do a lot of things that she hasn’t done before, including acting in Spanish. But it also gives her the opportunity to do something that she has done for years, and as well as just about anyone in the world: sing.
The Hollywood Reporter is pleased to exclusively debut a clip of the scene in which Gomez and her costar Édgar Ramírez perform “Mi Camino,” a song written by the French songwriting and composing team Clément Ducol and Camille, who are behind the film’s entire soundtrack and score.
“Mi Camino,” which is Spanish for “My Way,” has been described by its songwriters as the “anthem” for Gomez’s character, Jessi, as she learns to accept and love herself as she is. They have likened it to a 1980s hit, but with a modern edge.
Another song had previously been written for the character of Jessi, but when Gomez was cast, Audiard asked the songwriters to tailor something specifically for her. They went and watched the 2022 documentary feature Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me, and came back with “Mi Camino.”
For their work on Emilia Pérez — which also includes another best original song Oscar contender, “El Mal,” which they cowrote with Audiard — Clément Ducol and Camille have already been recognized with the Cannes Soundtrack Award, the Toronto International Film Festival’s Artistan Tribute and the Middleburg Film Festival’s Special Achievement in Music for Film Award.