Melissa Barrera Talks Returning To Her Mexican Roots In Carmen And Her “Tragic” Musical Number That Pays Homage To The Opera
Melissa Barrera started her career in telenovelas in Mexico before breaking out in roles in Vida, In The Heights, and Scream. Now Barrera stars alongside Normal People’s Paul Mescal in Benjamin Millepied’s reimagining of the iconic opera Carmen. Kristen Maldonado of Pop Culture Planet spoke with Barrera about heading back to her Mexican roots and tackling her big musical number in the film.
It was a chance of a lifetime for Barrera to take on the role of Carmen. “What attracted me to the movie was obviously getting to play Carmen, the opportunity of Carmen being Mexican. I never in a million years thought that I would ever get the chance to portray this iconic role,” she told me. “So when Ben decided to make her Mexican, I was like, ‘This is my shot.’”
She loved Benjamin Millepied’s past work and his vision for this Carmen reimagining. “I was a fan of his from Black Swan and then when I heard that he was doing — he was directing this movie — and I went on a deep dive. I saw all these like beautiful dance short films that he'd shot and I was like, ‘Oh, this is a visionary,’” Barrera said. “He knows how he's going to tell the story and I know it's going to be something unlike anything else out there and so I was excited about that. Being a part of a movie that's so unique and different.”
While the story is set in Mexico, the pandemic changed the plans for filming. “We were supposed to shoot it in Mexico. We were all set for Baja, California and the pandemic happened,” she told me. “So Benjamin decided that we were going to shoot it in Australia. So we shot it in Sydney and in the Outback and Broken Hill.”
Working on Carmen allowed Barrera to connect back with her Mexican roots. “I loved getting to act in Spanish again. It had been years since I had done anything in Spanish since I was like doing telenovelas in Mexico and theater,” she said. “To act in my native language and to tell a story that felt so important and personal and portray this really strong woman — I come from a matriarchal family — so it felt very right to portray this strong Mexican woman and all her freedom and confidence and joy, but also the history and the pain that she carries with her which I think is, you know, all of us.”
Barrera breaks down her stunning musical moment performing “Tú y Yo” in the film. “It was a beautiful sequence. Carmen arrives at this club that belongs to her godmother and she sees all these dancers and she's like, ‘I want to be one of them. I want to perform here.’ Then finally, on the day, she's dealing with a lot of things. It's not the joyous night that she thought it was going to be. It actually becomes quite tragic,” she shared. “It was a lot of preparation because I'm doing a trio number basically. I'm dancing with two men, which is very like reminiscent of Carmen the Opera. I think it was a little Easter egg for the Opera fans there. I sing this song that is so deeply melancholic and moving.”
She continued: “Julieta Venegas wrote the lyrics for it and Nicholas Britell wrote the music. I just felt so fortunate that I have that moment in the movie because it's all about everything shall pass. Everything bad and everything that you're suffering, everything will pass. She's singing that to Aiden who is played by Paul Mescal.”
Carmen is playing in theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
