(This article contains some spoilers for Part 1 of Netflix’s “Selena: The Series.” You have been warned.)
“Selena: The Series” premiered on Netflix Friday, chronicling the life of late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Perez. But as viewers soon find out, there was another reigning queen of Tejano before Selena came along, and her name was Laura Canales.
The series first introduces Canales via a poster on Selena’s brother, A.B.’s, bedroom wall when their family band was in its infancy, performing at backyard weddings and using repurposed peach cans as stage lights. But by episode three, “And the Winner Is….,” Selena y Los Dinos are starting to be recognized, and Selena gets nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1986 Tejano Music Awards in San Antonio.
Her biggest competition at the awards show is none other than Canales herself, who had won multiple times in a row before that year. Those details are all true, and Selena did go on to win the award at the ripe age of 15.
But did the two stars really meet in the bathroom before the awards ceremony? “Selena: The Series” depicts a heartfelt moment in which Selena becomes tongue-tied over meeting her idol while she’s washing her hands. In the scene, Selena even thanks Canales for “going first and making the road easier for a girl singer,” since most Tejano singers at the time were men.
Canales then offers the young star some sage advice.
“It’s a business of rejection and disappointment most of the time, so just take a rare moment to just be accepted,” Canales tells Selena. “Everyone in this business is going to tell you who you need to be every step of the way. From what I’ve seen of you, you should always do everything possible to be who you are.”
That advice becomes more poignant in future episodes as Selena and her family band struggle to maintain their individuality after signing to major label EMI. But did the scene really happen like that in real life?
It’s hard to say. While the exact conversation was likely a bit of artistic license on the part of the show’s writers, it’s true that Canales was a mentor to Selena during the early stages of her career. According to Canales’ entry on encyclopedia.com, she was known to be a generous person, and even after Selena became her rival, they would often perform together and always remained fans of one another. The entry also cites Tejano music journalist Joe Nick Patoski, who quoted Selena as saying that Canales “paved the way for everyone who has come after her, including myself.”
According to the archives of the local newspaper in Selena’s hometown, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Canales attended Selena’s funeral after her tragic death in 1995.
Part 1 of “Selena: The Series” is now streaming on Netflix.
10 Great Movie Santas, From Edmund Gwenn to Kurt Russell (Photos)
As the embodiment of kindness, generosity, and Yuletide beneficence, Santa Claus presents some mighty big black boots, much less a red suit, for any actor to fill. But jolly old Saint Nicholas has appeared in the movies for as long as the movies have existed, and here are some of our favorite actors who've steered the sleigh (not counting Billy Bob Thornton and anyone else who has played a guy who is pretending to be Santa):
Warner Bros./Netflix/Sony Pictures Entertainment
Edmund Gwenn, “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) The only actor to win an Oscar for playing Santa Claus, and it’s definitely a case where the Academy got it right. Gwenn’s Kris Kringle saves the Macy’s parade from a drunken impostor, generates publicity for the department store by alerting customers about better deals being offered by competitors, enchants a young Natalie Wood into believing in magic, and even proves his sanity at a court hearing. With a performance like this, who wouldn’t believe in Santa? (Honorable mention: Sir Richard Attenborough in the 1994 remake, who’s lovely but can’t hold a candle to the OG.)
20th Century Fox
José Elías Moreno, “Santa Claus” (1959) Unless you grew up watching Mexican television or going to kiddie matinees in the Southwest in the 1960s and early ’70s, you were probably exposed to this trippy import via "Mystery Science Theater 3000." And while this film earned the mockery it received from Mike and the bots, it’s one of those bad movies that’s so utterly enthralling that you can’t stop watching it. Even though this Santa teams up with Merlin to fight the devil (long story), Moreno gives us a memorable Saint Nick, even when the actor dubbing him into English makes his laugh sound sinister.
K. Gordon Murray Presents
John Call, “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1964) A kiddie adventure so terrible that "Mystery Science Theater 3000," Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax could all goof on it without repeating any jokes, this infamous Christmas turkey nonetheless features Broadway veteran Call (before making this movie, he appeared in the original cast of “Oliver!”) giving us a twinkly-eyed, rosy-cheeked Santa who seems to have stepped out of a Norman Rockwell lithograph. His “Ho ho ho!” always sounds genuine, even when he’s facing off with antenna-sporting green aliens bearing Wham-O Air Blasters.
Embassy Pictures
David Huddleston, “Santa Claus: The Movie” (1985) You’d think the guy playing the title role would be the star, but poor Huddleston ("The Big Lebowski") had to settle for billing beneath Dudley Moore (as an inventive elf) and John Lithgow (devouring the scenery as a corrupt toy magnate). Still, as overblown (and filled with product placement) as this shrill Christmas epic can be, Huddleston brings genuine warmth to the proceedings, whether he’s a 14th-century woodcutter determined to deliver toys to local children or the man with the bag spanning the globe every December 24.
TriStar Pictures
Douglas Seale, “Ernest Saves Christmas” (1988) Another comedy about the Santa title changing hands features veteran British character actor Seale as a Kringle on the verge of retirement, traveling to Florida to transfer the gig to a kind-hearted kids’ TV host. For all the wacky slapstick afoot, Seale maintains his dignity, presenting a Santa who’s both capable of genuine magic while also very much a part of the real world -- a tricky balance in any movie, much less one built around Jim Varney’s rubber-faced (and, admittedly, hilarious) antics.
Touchstone Pictures
Tim Allen, “The Santa Clause” (1994) Transforming from a divorced businessman to the Big Red Cheese himself, Allen is funny and relatable as a regular guy who finds himself literally expanding to fit the iconic red suit. So often in Santa movies, the audience must go on the “oh wow, he’s really real after all” journey, and Allen makes the perfect guide, with his character evolving from cynical to sweet as he completes his metamorphosis into the North Pole’s most famous resident.
Walt Disney Pictures
Ed Asner, “Elf” (2003): There’s not an ounce of cynicism or irony to this modern classic. Asner, whose Lou Grant character once famously growled that he “hate[d] spunk,” must now rely upon the good will and Christmas spirit of New Yorkers when his sleigh gets stranded in Central Park -- thankfully, the actor generates enough holiday cheer to ensure a happy outcome.
New Line Cinema
Paul Giamatti, “Fred Claus” (2007): Vince Vaughn has the title role of the main man’s ne’er-do-well brother, but this spotty comedy is stolen outright by Giamatti, who displays a level of kindness and joy that he rarely gets to exercise in front of the camera. The fatsuit and white beard fit the veteran character actor like a fur-trimmed glove.
Warner Bros.
Jim Broadbent, “Arthur Christmas” (2011) In this delightful animated adventure from Aardman, Broadbent plays the current Santa in a long lineage: He assumed the reins from his father (voiced by Bill Nighy), and is about to pass them along to son Steve (Hugh Laurie), who has modernized the toy delivery system, reducing Santa to a dotty figurehead. As voiced by Broadbent, he’s a bit of a dodderer, but still very much in love with the job.
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Kurt Russell in "The Christmas Chronicles" (2018) and "The Christmas Chronicles 2" (2020) There's more than a little bit of Russell's trucker character from "Big Trouble in Little China" in his take on Father Christmas, but that blue-collar bravado and dad-bod energy make this character, in the words of critic Nathan Rabin, "a Santa who f--ks."
Netflix
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Here’s a look at some of our favorite actors to don the mantle of jolly old Saint Nicholas over the years
As the embodiment of kindness, generosity, and Yuletide beneficence, Santa Claus presents some mighty big black boots, much less a red suit, for any actor to fill. But jolly old Saint Nicholas has appeared in the movies for as long as the movies have existed, and here are some of our favorite actors who've steered the sleigh (not counting Billy Bob Thornton and anyone else who has played a guy who is pretending to be Santa):
Warner Bros./Netflix/Sony Pictures Entertainment
20th Century Fox
