Selena Quintanilla's biopic premiered in March 1997 (just two years after her untimely death) and though 21 years have passed, the film remains a favorite among fans of the Tejana singer.
As someone who has probably seen Selena more than a few times, you know what scenes in the movie happened in real life. And you're definitely aware that the film marked Jennifer Lopez's first big role in Hollywood, catapulting her into stardom. But did you know who else was in the running to play the late Tejana singer? Or what Jennifer did to make sure she emulated Selena perfectly? We are about to blow your mind with some facts you might now have known about the movie.
Salma turned down the role for "dignity" reasons because she said she didn't know how to "gain success from the death of a person."
She made a whopping $1 million dollars for the movie.
Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, wanted a Caucasian actress to play her.
Latino advocacy groups reportedly weren't OK with the Puerto Rican-American portraying the late Mexican-American singer.
J Lo actually lived with Selena's sister, Suzette Quintanilla, for four months, so she could learn more about the life of the late Tejana singer.
Jennifer has openly said that playing Selena inspired her to become a musician.
Selena's vocals were used throughout the film. Jennifer only sang the words "Como La Flor" when she started the slow version of the hit song in one of the movie's main scenes.
It wasn't until Abraham Quintanilla read the script for the movie that he knew how his son-in-law proposed to his daughter.
When we see Jon, as Chris, rocking out during his audition, we don't see him — those were actually Chris Perez's hands playing the guitar.
Constance was playing Marcella Quintanilla, Selena's mom, and she would spend four hours getting her makeup done so she could look older.
For the scene, the director brought in 35,000 extras, and it was actually filmed at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The director insisted, because it was the dramatic ending the movie needed.
Selena's father wanted Rubén Blades to play him in the movie, but he couldn't because he was working on another movie.
The actor had to gain a 50 pounds before he took on the role of Abraham.
The "Como La Flor" singer died in March 1995, and almost exactly two years later, the movie was released.