Netflix's "Selena: The Series" (opens in new tab) is the first Selena Quintanilla biopic since the 1997 J.Lo film. Case in point: not only did the show consistently top the Netflix charts after its premiere on December 4, but Selena also re-entered the music charts, with her greatest hits album "Ones" returning to the Billboard 200 the week the show premiered. With Part 2 premiering on May 4, the series is expected to reenter Netflix's Top 10.

Of course, there are countless Serena fans in the U.S., Mexico, and around the world who cannot help but listen to "Como la Flor" and "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" in the decades since her debut. Undoubtedly the biggest of these lifelong fans is Selena's sister and former bandmate Suzette Quintanilla. She has devoted most of her life to commemorating Selena's legacy, most recently as executive producer of Selena: The Series. Here is what Suzette has been up to since her sister's career was cut short by her tragic death in 1995 (opens in a new tab), and how she feels about her latest film that brings the family story to the screen.

After quitting drumming in 1995, Suzette focused on preserving her sister's legacy. Now 53, she is CEO and president of Q Productions, the Quintanilla family record company, operates the Serena Museum in her native Corpus Christi, Texas, and licenses businesses like the best-selling Serena MAC Cosmetics Collection The company oversees the coordination of contracts. The company has also hosted various Selena tribute concerts over the years, including one scheduled for May 2020, almost exactly 25 years after Selena's death, but canceled due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Suzette also attended the 2017 ceremony where Selena was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with other family members, setting a record for the number of fans in attendance. She gave her final speech at the ceremony (opens in new tab) and concluded by quoting her sister: "The goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will live forever.

Earlier this year, when MAC's second collection was unveiled, Suzette said she was motivated by a desire to help Selena achieve the goals she had for her life. She told Refinery29 (opens in new tab), "When Selena passed away, the three things she was working on were a clothing line, a makeup line, and a perfume line." I promised myself that by the time I left this world, I would finish what she started and what she cared about."

And the continued success of projects such as the makeup line, tribute concerts, and the Selena Museum "shows me and my family that Selena and our music impacted people and that she will forever be loved," Suzette said in 2017 to (opens in new tab) Popsugar, adding, "The most important thing ever for my family is that she is not forgotten."

The eighth episode of "Serena: The Series" showed a 20-something Suzette, played by Noemi Gonzalez (opens in new tab), instantly falling for Christian Escobar's Bill Arriaga. It wasn't just on-screen chemistry: Suzette and Bill were married in 1993 and are still together today. They have one son, Jovan, who, according to his proud mother (opens in new tab), looks like Selena.

By all accounts, she is overjoyed with the Netflix show she helped produce. Ahead of the premiere, she took to Instagram to share a photo (opens in new tab) of a billboard advertising the show in Corpus Christi, saying, "This series is not a movie, it's more than that. This series isn't a movie, it's more than that." It's about our lives and the struggle to get there when it seems unattainable."

She continued, "I am grateful for this great platform we have been given at Netflix. Opportunities like this don't come along very often for Latinos. If you really want to know, very little. This is the story of a Mexican-American family from Texas who never give up and work hard. Will everyone reading this relate to it? Even if Serena wasn't here, this story would still be the same."

And on December 5, just 24 hours after the series premiered and almost immediately topping Netflix's rankings during that time, she wrote on Instagram (opens in new tab), "To wake up and watch this is insane and beautiful! Thank you for this love you have always given to our family"

.

Since part one of the series dropped, Selena has been honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammy Awards. In a pre-Grammy interview with Entertainment Tonight (open in new tab), Suzette said she was in awe that the world continues to embrace the Netflix series and her music-thorough sister.

"A new generation is embracing Selena. She represents us as Mexican-Americans. She is a great role model. She is a great singer and performer. We live in a time when we have the luxury of seeing her online. Most people who have lost a loved one can't do that," she said.

Suzette also told "Entertainment Tonight" (opens in new tab) that part two of the series will touch on Serena's past family and relationship struggles that have been difficult for the family to relive. 'There are moments I personally don't want to remember. There are moments that I personally don't want to remember. So there's a little bit of everything, to be honest,' she said."