EXCLUSIVE: Annie Gonzalez is making her official debut as Jenni Rivera, the legendary Regional Mexican singer recognized adoringly by her followers as La Diva de la Banda, within the official trailer for the ViX Unique Movie, Jenni (above). The biopic will premiere by way of the TelevisaUnivision streamer and choose theaters within the U.S. and Mexico on December 6.
From a screenplay by Shane McKenzie and Kate Lanier, Jenni follows Rivera’s journey from the start of her profession in her hometown of Lengthy Seaside, California, to her meteoric rise within the music business as much as the final days earlier than her tragic and sudden loss of life in a 2012 aircraft crash on the age of 43.
The venture additionally tackles the struggles she endured in her private life and the way she persevered and located energy from inside. This story of resilience and bravado exhibits the constructing blocks of what made Jenni Rivera who she was and the exceptional legacy she left behind.
“After I learn the script, I used to be drawn to the lady behind the microphone. It was her coronary heart and soul that made her who she was and what the story is about,” Gonzalez tells Deadline about what attracted her to the position.
“The story takes place earlier than her fame and what led to that, which I recognized with. There’s rather a lot in there that I both skilled or know individuals who have. It felt like such an essential story as a result of we see Jenni as this chingona, this peleona, this fighter, this pressure. However what we don’t see behind each robust lady often, is all of the shit that they needed to undergo and combat to grow to be somebody like Jenni. [To portray her], I simply pulled from my very own life,” she added.
Gonzalez displays on the expertise additional by sharing how this journey with Rivera was “cathartic” for her in a private approach. “It gave me an opportunity to totally expertise myself by means of this. This venture has freed me in so some ways,” the star of Flamin’ Sizzling reveals.
Jenni Rivera performs on the eleventh annual Latin GRAMMY Awards on November 11, 2010, in Las Vegas
Kevin Winter/Getty Photos for LARAS
When Deadline introduced the venture was greenlit at ViX in 2023 with Gonzalez taking the lead position and making her official debut as an govt producer, there have been questions on whether or not or not the movie would replicate Rivera’s actual life—the black, white, and the gray. As is obvious within the trailer above, the manufacturing didn’t draw back from something.
“There’s not a lot sugar coating happening right here. This can be a actual alternative to deliver her followers nearer to her and her coronary heart which lives on. It additionally helps individuals who may not have recognized a lot about her, the f***ing magic she was, and introduces them to her music. There’s a whole lot of grit to this movie,” Gonzalez shares.
She continues, “After we inform tales of people that have handed, particularly our icons, we create a sophisticated model of their lives. We as a society at this time are bored with the polish. Give us one thing actual in order that we are able to aspire to one thing trustworthy. Life isn’t about being good, it’s about being who you’re.”
Whereas her fame catapulted her to the higher echelons of success, Rivera was clear about how her life and family members had been tainted by home violence and sexual assault. In 2008, she based the Jenni Rivera Basis and have become an advocate for anybody who skilled abuse, particularly ladies and kids. So together with such matters in her biopic may be very on-brand for Rivera.
Gonzalez proudly shares how she was chosen for the position by the surviving members of the Rivera household following a prolonged audition and interview course of. She was additionally entrusted to sing a lot of Rivera’s greatest hits, however followers may be positive they can even hear their Diva’s vocals spotlighted within the movie’s soundtrack. Gonzalez’s hope for audiences is that they may join with “La Mariposa del Barrio” and discover inspiration.
“There’s a lot magic in Jenni due to her combat. She fought for who she was each second of the best way. She supplied grace to ladies world wide who confronted adversity. I hope folks see it and are impressed to combat the best way she did. She taught me how one can combat,” Gonzalez emphasised.
Annie Gonzalez as Jenni Rivera within the ViX unique movie Jenni
ViX
Alongside Gonzalez, the movie stars Manuel Uriza as Pedro Rivera, Jenni’s father and Regional Mexican entrepreneur; Cinthya Carmona as Chiquis Rivera, singer, TV character and the oldest daughter of Jenni; Jero Medina and Miguel Angel Garcia as Trino Marín, Jenni’s first husband and father of her three oldest youngsters, at later and earlier phases in his life, respectively. Gabriela Reynoso performs Jenni’s mom Rosa Saavedra; J.R. Villarreal as Juan “Cinco” Lopez, Jenni’s late second husband; and newcomer Tatiana Alicia Beltrán portrays the younger Jenni Rivera.
Jenni is produced by Javier Chapa and Phillip Braun of Mucho Mas Media and Alec Meachem from De Line Footage, with Gigi Saul Guerrero (Tradition Shock, Bingo Hell) serving as director.
In gentle of the current election and different equally essential world information, Gonzalez hopes Jenni audiences benefit from the journey and are impressed.
“We’re confronted with adversity throughout us that might make us really feel defeated or like victims, whether or not private or skilled. And as you’ll see within the movie, Jenni took every thing that occurred to her and understood that the villain and the victor lived inside her. I hope this evokes extra humanity on this planet and fewer judgment. We’re all making an attempt to do one of the best we are able to with the instruments that we have now,” Gonzalez concludes.
This interview has been edited and condensed for size and readability.
