[Source: Reuters]

Selena Gomez and her co-stars in “Emilia Perez” – a genre-bending mix of pop opera.

Off-beat comedy and crime drama – set the Toronto International Film Festival abuzz this week, walking the red carpet in support of a movie that already took top honors at Cannes.

Set in modern-day Mexico, the Spanish-language film by French director Jacques Audiard tells the story of a drug cartel kingpin, played by Karla Sofia Gascon, who enlists a flashy lawyer played by Zoe Saldana to help him undergo gender-reassignment surgery and disappear.

Years later, the former drug lord re-emerges as Emilia Perez, posing as a sister and hoping to reunite with her children and wife, as portrayed by Gomez.

Gomez, who over the years has evolved from a teen idol to a singer and actress with a long list of accolades to her credit, told Reuters she was grateful to work with Audiard, whose directorial credits include 2012’s “Rust and Bone” and “A Prophet” in 2009.

“I just really was dying to work with someone who would take me out of my comfort zone but in a way that was through storytelling,” Gomez said.

The former Disney star said she hoped audiences would find inspiration in Perez, the character portrayed by Gascon, and from the Spanish actress herself, who became the first transgender actor to win a major award at Cannes.

Gascon shared the prize with her “Emilia” co-stars Gomez, Saldana and Adriana Paz.

“You walk through life, you want it to be as strong as you can and represent yourself with all your heart,” said Gomez.

“All of us are Karla, in a way.”

For Gascon, Perez is a lesson in the capacity of everyone to reinvent themselves.

“The only thing that I want the public to receive is that we can change for the better,” Gascon said.

“Emilia,” Audiard’s 10th feature film, fetched two major awards at Cannes and received a nine-minute standing ovation.