Selena Gomez: “It is a dream what I am doing”

On any pink carpet, Selena Gomez is the image of magnificence, poise and confidence. However she’ll be the primary to let you know that issues aren’t all the time what they seem. As an example, her newest movie: “Emilia Pérez.” Gomez co-stars because the spouse of a strong Mexican drug lord who secretly transitions. The movie is a hard-hitting true crime story, a poignant love story, a journey of self-discovery – and a musical. However in some way all of it works.

To observe a trailer for “Emilia Pérez” click on on the video participant beneath:

Gomez mentioned taking pictures left her “just a little sore” from all of the dance numbers. So, why did she need to do it? “I discovered it extremely compelling,” she mentioned. “I’ve by no means actually seen a film like this earlier than. I do not assume I’ve ever been this pleased with one thing within the appearing discipline.”

And that is actually saying one thing; at 32, Gomez has loads to be pleased with: She’s an achieved actor, however she’s additionally a really profitable singer-songwriter, and due to her wildly in style Uncommon Magnificence line of cosmetics, she’s a billionaire, and a really energetic philanthropist. It is all fairly spectacular, and much more so once you notice the place she began.

Gomez was born within the Texas city of Grand Prairie. Her mother, Mandy Teefy, was solely 16 years previous. Selena’s dad and mom cut up when she was 5. She says the household had a variety of love, and never a lot else, with powerful occasions when her mom struggled to place meals on the desk. “My mother labored a number of jobs,” she mentioned. “She additionally was ending highschool when she was having me. Once I’m doing one thing nice right now, it simply makes me extra grateful for the teachings that my mom taught me.”

Gomez was barely 10 when she landed a component on TV’s “Barney & Associates,” and some years later she grew to become a fixture on the Disney Channel, on such reveals as “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

She branched out into music, and have become a pop sensation. And when the pandemic got here, she switched gears once more, internet hosting “Selena + Chef,” a well-liked on-line cooking present shot within the kitchen of her L.A. residence. “We had cameras in all places, from each side of it,” she mentioned.

And the way are her cooking expertise now? “They are not that nice, I am not gonna lie!” she laughed.

After which, in 2021 she helped prepare dinner up one of many greatest hits on TV: “Solely Murders within the Constructing.” She praised her co-stars, Steve Martin and Martin Quick: “These males, Steve and Martin, have been working longer than I have been alive, however they’re the primary ones to be on set. They take time to ask everybody they run into how their day is. And on high of it, they assume the whole lot via. They’re great individuals, they usually’ve helped me develop up in a variety of methods. These guys have turn into my buddies and allies and other people I can ask recommendation from. I could not be extra grateful to work with them.”

Gomez is the primary to confess that she’s had a magical life, and that it hasn’t all the time been a mattress of roses. She’s been open about her well being struggles, like having lupus and receiving a kidney transplant.

She additionally determined to take her struggles with nervousness and despair, and her bipolar analysis, public. Her 2022 documentary, “Selena Gomez: My Thoughts & Me,” is an unvarnished have a look at her life – the highs and the very deep lows.

She admits she was just a little nervous about sharing it with the world however, “as soon as I launched it, it felt like an enormous aid, as a result of I’m a agency believer that one of many strongest issues you are able to do is be susceptible. And that does not imply you must pour your coronary heart out to everybody. However I made that selection, as a result of I knew I wasn’t the one one which felt that approach. And if my world was already on the market for everybody to see, I might like to inform my a part of the story. And so as to add on that, it is a dream what I am doing.”

A part of what her dream is was a profit held final month for her Uncommon Impression Fund, a charity aimed toward serving to younger individuals who undergo from the identical psychological well being challenges she’s been via. “That is in all probability an important factor to me, in addition to my household,” she mentioned. “That is the cherry on high of the whole lot.”

One other excessive level is her relationship with music producer Benny Blanco, whom Individuals Journal named one of many sexiest males alive. “Yeah, that is my man!” Gomez mentioned. “To know that there’s somebody on the planet that deeply cares about each tiny element about who I’m, I am actually, actually fortunate.”

It is clear from “Emilia Pérez” that she’s an artist who likes to take dangers. However Selena Gomez’s gutsiest transfer has been sharing her actual self, and that has made all of the distinction. 

I requested, “The response generally has been overwhelmingly constructive, hasn’t it?”

“Certain. Possibly,” Gomez replied.

Possibly?  “It isn’t that I actually need anybody’s approval,” she added. “I feel I am simply actually, I am okay with the place I’m and who I’m. And I am glad. I am glad that I lastly received there.”

      
For more information:

     
Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler.