‘Selena: The Series’ Casts Abraham Quintanilla in a Dark New Light

The world of pop music is littered with talented icons driven to glory by ruthlessly ambitious parents. The Jackson family were molded into inhumanly perfect performers by the imperious Joe Jackson. Beyoncé spent her childhood running dance drills under the critical eye of her father, Matthew Knowles. And, as Netflix’s Selena: The Series argues, Selena Quintanilla Perez was robbed of a normal adolescence by her own domineering stage father.

While the 1997 film Selena cast Abraham Quintanilla as a sweet, stern Papa always putting his family first, Selena: The Series adds dark nuance to Selena’s journey from Corpus Christi kid to Tejano music icon. Abe, played here by Ricardo Chavira, is a man who loves his family, sure. But what drives him is a sense of shame and bitterness over his own failed dreams. When he discovers that his daughter Selena (played as a girl by Madison Taylor Baez and Christian Serratos as a teen) has the golden voice of an angel, he pours his entire life force into grinding his children into the perfect pop group. And since they are Mexican-Americans living in Texas, that means the perfect Tejano music band.

Created by Moisés Zamora, Selena: The Series is a loving look at the family who shaped fallen Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla Perez. Starting with Selena’s literal birth, the show tracks the Mexican-American singer’s tightrope walk to fame. As a native Texan, Selena grew up idolizing the mainstream pop stars who sang in her native English. However, as a Mexican-American, her biggest shot at success as a kid was singing upbeat Tejano dance songs in Spanish. Selena flitted between these two cultures throughout her life and Selena: The Series dramatizes the emotional effect it had on the singer. However, the show also tells never-before-heard stories about Selena’s upbringing that might take even her most ardent fans aback.

Early on in the series, we watch as the Quintanilla family loses everything in the 1980s recession. Though they are not the only folks suffering, Abe takes it personally and sees accepting help as a mark of shame. Because of this, he not only considers letting his family live in a relative’s shack over splitting a guest room, but he balks at government subsidized help in the form of food stamps. There’s a chilling moment where he builds up the courage to confront his shame by buying the groceries, but in the last minute, he passes the task on to his unsuspecting teen children.

“Yeah, the food stamp story, that really happened,” Selena‘s co-showrunner Moisés Zamora told Decider recently. “I think what we tried to do with that, and to sort of contextualize where they were coming from and where Abraham was coming from, is how difficult it is to be the provider and having to ask for this kind of help.”

“He had a really close relationship with his kids, and he saw himself as his kids’ friend. So we wanted to portray that, even though he’s struggling with his own — probably just finding it difficult in having to do that,” Zamora said, noting that Abraham Quintanilla struggled with the decision and that he’s a “jokester” in real life.

While Selena: The Series portrays Quintanilla as a father who loves his family, it also provides more context to why the family invested so much in Selena’s talent. It also shows the years of sacrifice the young Selena endured on the road to become the Tejano superstar we know and love. Driving those long days and sleepless nights? Literally her father, Abe Quintanilla. It’s always him driving the bus, setting the schedule, and pushing the family to their breaking point all in pursuit of a dream that would come true. Just about.

Watch Selena: The Series on Netflix