‘Emilia Pérez’ Choreographer Damien Jalet Emerges from Awards Season’s Wings: ‘When Zoe Saldaña Arrived… I Was Like, There Is a God’

Most awards ceremonies don’t honor choreographers. It might be time for that to change, argues the one behind “Emilia Pérez.”

Jacques Audiard’s high-energy crime musical — about a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes a dramatic gender-affirming transformation — is a major contender this awards season. After securing 10 nominations for both the upcoming Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards and winning big at the European Film Awards, the tour de force of singing and dancing is primed to take on its more candy-coated counterpart, “Wicked,” and the year’s other fan favorites. But one person whose name won’t be called at any podium is the man behind the operatic film’s intricately designed dance numbers, French-Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet. 

“I don’t want to sound too revendicaliste, but I do see, now that the film is going into the Oscar campaign, that there’s a huge difference for me and the other heads of departments, just because they are eligible for an award and I am not,” Jalet told IndieWire, using a French term for “protester” and pointing to how most awards tend not to recognize his craft.

“I’m promoting the film and I’m happy to talk mostly about that. But there’s very little recognition of choreography in cinema, and that changes my presence in this campaign,” he added. “At this stage, it’s all about the awards.”

From his early conversations with Audiard in 2021 to the 2024-25 awards season, Jalet has had quite an education working on “Emilia Pérez,” which stars Karla Sofía Gascón as the titular Emilia and Zoe Saldaña as a disillusioned lawyer named Rita, who’s recruited to help Emilia fake her own death and start a new life as her true self. 

The choreographer, who has previously worked with directors like Luca Guadagnino (“Suspiria”) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Thom Yorke’s “Anima”), was approached about the film by Audiard’s assistant after COVID canceled performances of his latest project. Despite Audiard’s lack of experience working with a choreographer — and lack of vision for how to incorporate dance into the film — Jalet was eager to collaborate with the French auteur, whom he describes as a kindred “reckless” spirit, and dive back into cinema. But months leading up to production tested his enthusiasm, when it often seemed like there was no room for movement in the musical, which features an original score and songs by Clément Ducol and Camille. (The score and two of the songs also landed on the 2025 Oscar shortlists.)

“When I did ‘Suspiria,’ there was a very clear description of when the dance would enter. Here, there was nothing,” Jalet said of first receiving the script co-written by Audiard, an early version of the soundtrack, and a video mashup of random choreographed numbers accompanied by the film’s songs.

“But I knew I really wanted to work with him,” he said of the director. “I loved the ‘bonkersness’ of the project. I was, like, I’m going to do it no matter what. And that helped me stick to the film for the first six months of experimentation, because, believe me, there were a lot of failed attempts. There were a lot of moments when I was, like, ‘I’m just an obstacle for the actors. I’m going to ruin this film.’” 

‘Emilia Pérez’Courtesy of Netflix

During the months of trial and error that preceded shooting on soundstages in Paris, Jalet explored incorporating choreography into nearly every scene in the film, which is largely set in Mexico City. From rapped numbers to a montage of Rita recruiting potential surgeons for her employer’s marathon of gender-affirming procedures, the choreographer tried various approaches to punctuating the film’s dialogue with dance. But he struggled to develop a style that would enhance the storytelling without feeling overly literal — or overly burdensome for the actors — and that would satisfy the French auteur better known for understated indies like 2009’s “A Prophet” and 2012’s “Rust and Bone.”

“I understood that Jacques is really an actor’s director. He is someone that really focuses on the story and on the actors. He can find dance really beautiful, but if it’s not meaningful and if it’s just there because it’s a musical, it didn’t make sense for him,” Jalet said. 

“We also knew how tricky musicals are and how easily they can become corny. So we had to find where dance could really help add a layer to the film that is neither decorative [nor] illustrative, but that would really have a function,” he added, explaining that he was mindful of designing choreography that would feel “redundant” or “just plain silly” with the dialogue.

At the point when even Audiard apparently thought he was ready to walk, Jalet found inspiration in his struggle to carve out space for dance in the film, while avoiding the pitfalls of making a musical. Drawing on the idea of dance as a “weapon” and mimicking the quick, frontal movements of TikTok choreography, Jalet designed numbers that turn everyday gestures into acts of resistance — beginning with the opening sequence, titled “Alegato” (“The Plea”).

Although it was choreographed just a few months before filming and was the first number that Jalet set, “Alegato” — which follows Rita as she emerges onto the streets of Mexico City, acting out defense arguments as a night market comes alive — proved an effective entry point for dance in the film, especially once Saldaña arrived on set.

“When Zoe Saldaña arrived in the process, I was, like, there is a God,” Jalet said of the seasoned dancer who was inspired to focus on acting after starring in the 2000 film “Center Stage.” “I knew that I could work with her as a dancer and that would be my point of connection with all the other dancers. She was the key that could bring dancing to the film, and that’s what she does in the scene of the market.”

“She starts with small gestures, and it’s like those gestures contaminate the market,” he said. “There’s a butterfly effect and suddenly dance enters the film.” 

From a practical standpoint, achieving the sense that dance is spontaneous in the film, as Jalet describes it, proved to be another challenge for the choreographer who had already spent months proposing rewrites on scenes and even music. Such was the case of the midway number “El Mal” (“The Evil”), to find a place for choreography. 

In the limited amount of time he had to rehearse the intricate choreography with the film’s stars, Jalet also recruited dancers from Mexico to lend authenticity to the numbers while working with extras who had little to no dance experience. But his biggest obstacle was convincing Audiard, known for his collaborative approach on set, to not tweak the dance-heavy scenes once it came time to film them.

‘Emilia Pérez’©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

“There are a lot of very simple gestures, but it’s very tight choreography,” Jalet said of his approach to making the numbers feel organic, rather than leaving audiences with the sense that actors just start dancing out of nowhere.

“I was often saying, ‘Jacques, I know you are used to changing things last minute on set, but you have to know, with those things, it’s impossible,” he said. “‘It took a tremendous amount of time to tune all these people to make them move in one way. You cannot suddenly do a U-turn, because then the whole thing is going to fall apart.” 

While getting there was anything but easy, Jalet convinced Audiard to follow his lead in most instances, given the role of dance in the film and the fact that the director has repeatedly referred to the choreographer as a “very persuasive guy.” Audiard even shouted out Jalet during his acceptance speech at the European Film Awards, joining in the recent chorus of calls for choreographers to be recognized more formally for their work in film — a cause that the “Emilia Pérez” choreographer is campaigning for, in lieu of an Oscar, this awards season.

“I do think, as choreographers, we don’t have any kind of recognition for our work in cinema. And we are responsible for quite a few iconic scenes,” Jalet said, referencing classic films like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Cabaret,” as well as more recent titles like the new “West Side Story” and “Poor Things.” 

“I understand it’s systemic. Is it OK? Like many other systemic things, probably not. That’s why I think it’s important to be somehow addressed,” he said, adding that sometimes it’s “hard to swallow” things like  choreographers being listed under additional crew, “next to the assistant of makeup,” on IMDb. “If the awards are so important, sorry, then we need an award for dancers and for choreography.”

“Emilia Pérez” is now streaming on Netflix.