Selena Gomez in tears after receiving longest standing ovation at Cannes

Actor and singer Selena Gomez broke down after her Spanish-language movie Emilia Pérez received the longest standing ovation so far at the Cannes Film Festival 2024.

Gomez was in tears as the audience clapped for a full nine minutes for her musical drama also starring Zoe Saldaña, and Karla Sofía Gascón at the Cannes Film Festival, Variety reported.

While director Jacques Audiard thanked the audience for the overwhelming response, Saldaña and Édgar Ramírez embraced in an emotional hug.

The film narrates the story of a drug lord, played by Gascón, seeking gender-affirming surgery.

Saldaña portraying the role of Rita is an “overqualified and undervalued” lawyer, whose firm helps criminals rather than seek justice.

Rita gets a chance to quit the firm after a drug cartel leader Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón) recruits her to help him in secretly go through an operation to become a woman.

Selena Gomez plays the drug lord’s wife.

She also sung several songs for the Emilia Pérez music album and spoke Spanish in the film.

Earlier, Saldaña said that Mexican culture was something that was dear to her heart.

“I have lots of family there. There is injustice and corruption, which is true of all places in the world. But I’m grateful to Jacques because he used a lot of creative library and freedom [in this story],” she added.

Gomez said she related “so much to what Zoe said. I still have family there and, obviously, me growing up in Texas was another part of my life. In general it was wonderful.”