Top 10 Things Selena (1997) Got Factually Right & Wrong

Chris Pérez is Selena Quintanilla’s widower, but before that he was the guitarist for the band Selena y Los Dinos. Perez said that the first time he saw Selena in real life was in a Denny’s parking lot and that “she was hot”. Considering that isn’t the most picturesque meet cute, the film instead had them meet in a scene where Pérez is having his hair cut so that he can look presentable to play with Selena. When she compliments him, he cheesily replies, “I like it if you like it”.

Selena was born in Texas, and that colored much of her identity throughout her life. One of her most iconic performances took place just weeks before she was tragically killed. The February 26th, 1995 show at the Houston Astrodome takes place in the movie version, and many details are spot on, including her glittering purple ensemble. There was one notable change however - rather than actually filming at the Astrodome, the filmmakers shot the sequence at San Antonio’s Alamodome instead. Through movie magic though, you’d never even know the difference!

In one of the most adorable scenes from the movie, we see Selena’s family spending time by the beach, and Selena’s mother, Marcella Quintanilla, teaching her the “washing machine” dance. While this moment is super cute, Selena’s sister, Suzette, revealed to “Entertainment Tonight” that it was actually fiction. While it was true that the family would enjoy time together by the seaside, this dance lesson never actually took place. She said, “But what is true is that we would go, as a family, down by the water and we would hang out there and we would talk and just be a family basically”.

One of the funniest scenes from the movie is 100% true. When they encounter some problems with their tour bus, Selena works her magic to get two guys to pull over and help them. When they realize who she is, they’re more than eager to lend a hand, and offer to pull the bus out of the ditch. Unfortunately, their car isn’t quite as powerful as they had thought, and their bumper gets ripped off in the process. Rather than being upset however, one of the guys says that he’ll proudly hang the bumper in the garage as a memory of the incident. Anything for Selenas!

Considering how passionate Selena’s real life fans were, it should come as no surprise that while many loved Jennifer Lopez’s performances, others found things to complain about. This one point might seem like nitpicking, but something viewers noticed was that J. Lo never got lipstick on her mic in the movie. Why is this relevant? Selena would famously sing so close to the mic that her bright red lipstick would often end up all over it. We guess that the hair and makeup department vetoed that one for the film!

In a memorable lighthearted scene from the movie, Selena and Chris go out for pizza and Selena brags about being able to eat a whole medium pizza by herself. She goes on to joke that she’d tell reporters that when they ask her how she keeps her trim figure. While the couple did go out on a date like this (and while they both truly did share a love for pizza) there’s one thing that the filmmakers left out. This was actually the place where the pair said “I love you” for the first time, which was omitted from the scene. One thing they did get right though was the face that Selena totally made the first move!

In one scene from the movie, Selena’s father absolutely loses it when he witnesses Selena doing a show wearing a bustier top - or what he refers to as a bra. While she claims that all the big singers are doing it, he refuses to allow it. This moment was taken from real life, and Abraham Quintanilla said afterwards that it was fully accurate, adding, “I'm a typical Mexican father”. Speaking of that bustier, one thing the film didn’t show however was that Selena ran out of rhinestones in real life, leaving one side less decorated than the other.

Considering Selena and Chris were in the band together, there were plenty of reasons why it was a bad idea for them to be getting involved in an intimate relationship. In the movie, we see them goofing around together when Selena insists that Chris dance with her. When the bus jostles them however, Selena ends up in his arms and before either of them know it, they’re kissing. Joe inadvertently walks in on them, but that’s not how it happened in real life. In actuality, it was Ricky who interrupted the moment!

Unfortunately, this scene was not a movie dramatization. In the film, one of the reasons that Selena’s dad doesn’t approve of Chris is the fact that he and his friends trashed a hotel suite. Chris admits that this did really happen, and also that he paid “thousands in damages”. He did clarify however that the movie mixed up the timeline a bit, and that this incident actually took place after he and Selena had secretly gotten married. He also stated that it was “Not one of my prouder moments”. Oops!

It’s rare for a movie to make something seem less dramatic than what happened in real life, but that’s what they did for this scene. At the Mexico concert, Abraham is concerned that there’s something wrong with the stage and that it’s going to collapse, but nothing really happens. It seems like they played it down for the film quite a bit, because Chris said, in a more recent interview, “That was even crazier than the movie shows. I thought we were not gonna make it out”. Yikes! We wonder why they made the decision to minimize the drama.