In a rare announcement, 28-year-old multitalented Selena Gomez is set to star AND produce a biographical film about one the “mountaineer, athlete, speaker, and all-around bada**” that is American-Peruvian explorer Silvia Vasquez-Lavado. The biopic is to be titled after the 46-year-old’s upcoming memoir, “In the Shadow of the Mountain” In her post, Vasquez-Lavado named Gomez as both her movie-counterpart as well as the producer for her biopic, sharing:
“I am so humbled and grateful to share this thrilling news, which has been in the works for the last 10months, that an all-star team has optioned my upcoming memoir ‘In The Shadow of the Mountain’ for a movie adaptation. I am so honored and touched for the bold, talented, and brilliant @selenagomez in taking the starring role and as producer […] And to all of my family and friends, thank you for all your words of encouragement and support along this road. I can’t wait to share more!”
Vásquez-Lavado’s story starts with her traumatic childhood. As a victim of childhood assault and neglect, she found healing and power in mountaineering. Back in 2016, Vásquez-Lavado was the first Peruvian woman have to reached the summit of Mt. Everest (which stands as the highest mountain in the world at 29,029 feet), as well as the first open member of the LGBTQ+ community to complete ‘the Seven Summits’. This means that Vásquez-Lavado successfully made it up the highest mountains on each of the seven continents of the Earth: Everest (Asia), Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Elbrus (Europe), Mount Vinson (Antarctica) and Carstensz Pyramid (Australia – New Guinea). Her extrodinary achievements don’t end there – in 2014, Vásquez-Lavado launched a nonprofit called ‘Courageous Girls’ in order to help survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking. This far, the group has projects in Nepal, India, the US and Peru.
View this post on Instagram
Vulnerable ain’t easy believe me, but I go there ?
A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on
Gomez is set to produce ‘ In the Shadow of the Mountain’ through her July Moon Productions, which she founded back in 2008. Although she had initially been slated to release two movies (‘What Boys Want’ and ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’) through her production company’s partnership with XYZ Films, her plans never came to fruitation. However, Gomez was able to executive produce a television adaptation of ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’. As an actress, Gomez is known for her roles in ‘Barney & Friends’, ‘Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over’, ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ and more.
*Cover image credits: Instagram/ @selenagomez
