Nearly 27 years after Selena hit theaters in March 1997, Jon Seda is still pals with Chris Pérez, whom he portrayed in the biographical film.
“I’m still friends with Chris. Chris is just an amazing guitarist and he’s still out there making his music. Check out his music, it’s incredible,” Seda, 53, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month while promoting the final season of the NBC drama La Brea, which premiered on January 9.
Seda added that his experience working on Selena is in his heart “forever” and reflected on the “sad” reality of the project.
“It was obviously a sad time and it’s a shame that we had to make the movie, because obviously she wasn’t here anymore,” he said of the film’s subject, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, known mononymously as Selena.
In March 1995, Selena was shot and killed at age 23 by her former fan club president and boutique manager, Yolanda Saldívar. Saldívar, now 63, was found guilty of first-degree murder in October 1995. She is currently serving a life sentence in a Texas prison and will become eligible for parole in March 2025.
At the time of her death, Selena was married to Pérez, now 54. The duo tied the knot in 1992, three years after Pérez joined Selena’s band, Selena y Los Dinos.
In Selena, Seda starred opposite Jennifer Lopez, who played the titular role.
“She just did such an incredible job as Selena and I had a great time working with her,” Seda told Us of Lopez, 54, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of the late musical icon.
When Seda and Lopez shared the screen in Selena, Lopez had yet to launch her massively successful pop career. Her debut album, On the 6, didn’t come out until 1999.
“She wasn’t J. Lo when I worked with her,” said Seda, referring to Lopez’s widely-used nickname. “She was Jenny and she still is. But I give her credit because she had goals and said she wanted to be where she’s at today. She envisioned it, she saw it and she worked hard. She worked hard to get there. She’s definitely someone I think a lot of young women can look up to.”
Pérez, for his part, praised Lopez’s performance while live tweeting about his first time viewing Selena “in its entirety” in 2017. He noted that his “eyes were closed half of the time” when he attended the movie’s premiere 20 years prior.
“I’ll tell you what … Jen did a great f—king job. Super proud. Will not watch the ending of the movie,” Pérez wrote at the time.
He also reacted to Seda’s portrayal of him, tweeting: “Wow … I was HOT! LOLOL!!!!!!”
