Genre-Killer: Even though there were some notable Tejano musicians before her, it was Selena who made the genre popular with the Latin audience in the United States during the 1990s. No Tejano musician was able to replicate her success and Tejano itself never recovered years after her death. To this day, the music is only played by a few Mexican American artists living in Texas, albeit with no success outside of the region.
Her last album itself was supposed to be fully recorded in English and was still working on it at the time of her death. Only four of the six songs she recorded were included while the rest of the track listing contains her earlier hits.
Overall, everything had she not passed. It leaves much to wonder how Selena would have crossed over into the English market and impact the music scene following the Turn of the Millennium.
Film
Ability over Appearance: Jennifer Lopez received an avalanche of criticism when she was cast as Selena, for not being Mexican. However, when they shot the scene at San Antonio Alamodome in front of 35,000 extras - numerous people changed their opinions and were won over by how she performed.
Abraham Quintanilla had control over the casting and the script, as well as a hand in choosing the director.
Selena's family gave their approval of Jennifer Lopez, feeling her body language, laugh and how she talked were near identical. They were sobbing after one scene because of how good her performance was.
They also gave approval to Edward James Olmos, saying he perfectly captured Abraham.
Jackie Guerra picked up on a tic Suzette had that she didn't even realise! Her family basically said she did that without knowing.
The real Pérez described the elopement scene as if he'd travelled back in time to witness the actual event, and almost couldn't bear to watch it as a result.
Cast the Runner-Up: Constance Marie screen tested to play Selena, but was cast as her mother Marcella instead.
Casting Gag: A little bit meta in the Japanese dub, but Selena's Japanese VA (Rica Matsumoto) is a professional singer by her own right, not to mention being a former member of JAM Project. The meta part come with the fact she doesn't sing or dub any song in the film for very obvious reasons.
Christmas Rushed: A variation. Abraham Quintanilla put the movie in production mere weeks after Selena's death because false rumours were circulating throughout the media, and he hoped to set the record straight in case another film or series was made misrepresenting her.
Dawson Casting: Jennifer Lopez was 28 when the film was made, which was five years older than Selena was when she died. She also plays her as a teenager.
Deleted Scene: A number of scenes were cut from the final product.
"Ridiculed at school": Child Selena is being teased in Spanish by her Mexican American classmates. But because poor Selena can neither speak nor understand Spanish, all she can do is look on helplessly.
"Food stamps": Abraham rages at Marcella for obtaining food stamps, insisting that he'd rather starve than humiliate himself that way, while Marcella reminds him that their children need to eat.
"Off to school": Selena and Suzette eat a bag of chips on their way to school.
"Getting some exposure": Abraham is on the phone with Freddie, begging him to give Selena and the band some exposure. Freddy's boss, upon realizing it's Abraham from the Dinos, claims he owes him a punch in the face because "he [Abraham] was a real son of bitch".
"Payment for performance": Abraham complains about the band's whole week performance only earning six hundred dollars. Juan Luis advises him to sign on with a big-name music label, otherwise the band won't get very far, even more so because Selena is just a woman in male-dominated genre.
"Getting the record deal": Marcella sends in the last of Selena's school-work so she can graduate high school. Meanwhile, Abraham reveals to his family that Selena Y Los Dinos have just been signed on to Capital EMI's label.
"Bus Construction": Abraham is arguing with a worker over the construction of Big Bertha. A.B. pulls his father away so they can go home to audition Chris Perez.
"Worried Parents": Abraham wakes up at night worried and (correctly) suspecting that Selena might be romantically involved with Chris. When Marcella reveals that she knew, Abraham scolds her for not telling him.
"Selena Falls": In the aftermath of the Grammys, Selena calls out to Yolanda and walks towards her when she suddenly trips over a cord. Instead of helping Selena get back up, Yolanda merely stares at her and gives her a slight Slasher Smile (foreshadowing her true nature). She then starts to show fake concern for her friend when a crowd shows up to help her back on her feet.
"Selena and Abie's Limo Ride": Selena and A.B. are riding a limousine in Nashville, remembering their encounter with the "anything for Salinas" cholos from years back, and how hard the group has worked to get where they are. Selena expresses dismay over having to work with an entirely new crew for her cross-over album instead of with her family.
The movie got into a little hot water when they cast Lopez to play Selena. Some people felt that the filmmakers should've honored Selena's Mexican heritage by hiring a Mexican actress, instead of Lopez, who's Puerto Rican.
Panchito Gómez, who is Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian, plays the younger Abraham. Edward James Olmos however is Mexican-American.
The family often had the main cast over for dinner to properly allow them to get to know their behavior.
Non-Singing Voice: While Lopez can sing, the family felt it was important to have Selena's actual voice in the film, so Lopez lip-synched to Selena's songs.
One-Take Wonder: They only did one take of Selena's death scene because it was so distressing for the cast.
Playing Against Type: Lupe Ontiveros was normally typecast as maids, or wise matriarchs towards the end of her life. Ironically the role she is best known for (except for perhaps Abuelita in The Brothers García) is Loony Fan Yolanda who murders Selena.
Production Posse: Edward James Olmos, Constance Marie, Jacob Vargas, and an uncredited Jennifer Lopez all starred in director Gregory Nava's previous film, My Family, which released two months after the murder of Selena Quintanilla.
Star-Making Role: Before she was the diva J-Lo, she made her mark with this movie as Jennifer Lopez, talented actress.
Throw It In!: Pete Astudillo had very little dialogue, and ended up improvising a lot of his scenes.
Underage Casting: Constance Marie is only three years older than Jennifer Lopez, who is admittedly playing several years younger than herself. True to how this is often done, Constance plays Marcella in several scenes when Selena is still a child, but she's even too young there - as Marcella was already in her late thirties.
Unknown 17-year-old Danielle Camastra auditioned for the role of Selena. Salma Hayek was the first choice but turned it down, feeling it would be too emotional so soon after Selena's death. Diana Uribe of California Dreams also auditioned for the role.
The real Abraham didn't want the scene with the elopement included, because he initially believed Perez had pressured Selena into getting married. Nava on the other hand revealed that he had interviewed Perez, who claimed Selena herself suggested it.
