Selena Gomez has a major feature in the May issue of GQ. I think she’s on the cover, but I haven’t seen the cover image yet so I don’t know. Selena is promoting her role in Neighbors 2, where she and Chloe Moretz play crazy-drunk sorority girls living next to Seth Rogen and his family. When I see photos of Selena, I’m always sort of “meh” on her, but when I read her interviews, I remember that I like her. She’s very straight-forward and no-nonsense in real life, and this GQ piece is yet another attempt to be seen as somehow more adult. It’s a classic child-star thing, especially for a young woman who still looks like she’s 14. Some highlights:
Learning how to improvise with Seth Rogen: “I was cussing a lot and being dramatic.”
Her abnormal childhood: “I didn’t have an opportunity to figure out my life without people having an opinion every step of the way… [but] I chose this. So I’m not gonna sit here and say, ‘Oh, my God, poor me, I didn’t have a normal childhood.’ I don’t give a f–k about that.”
She was not in rehab earlier this year: “No, no, no, no, no… First off, this is something that everyone always wants to fixate on. I got diagnosed with lupus. My mom had a very public miscarriage. So I had to cancel my tour. I needed time to just be okay. And I was going through leukemia”–– Baron notes she most likely means chemotherapy here––“and I went to two different locations for those treatments. It’s really frustrating, because I’m 100 percent allowed to have that, but I think people just want to have some sort of — I understand what you’re asking but I’m just saying, I don’t think it really matters. My past seems to be way more fascinating for people than my future, which bums me out… I don’t ever really like to sit and dwell on what that experience was. Was it fun? No. Is it fun to have it? No.”
Child star to pop star: “We’re easy targets. Every single kid who was brought up like this is an easy target. It’s disgusting, because it’s interesting to grown adults that these kids go through weird things because they’re figuring out, ‘Do I like this? Do I love this? Maybe I love this person. Oh, I’m exposed to this, people are reporting my every move and this and that because of Instagram and Twitter and you can find out everything.’ There’s a difference between being a fan––there’s a difference between that and what you have to do… Because it’s, I don’t know, fun, maybe? It’s like watching a car crash as you’re driving past it. You want to watch it.”
Whether she would fast-forward through the tumultuous years: “No, because I’m not that stupid. And I get it. I just have to be patient. It’s slowly dissolving the older I get. And I just have to be patient and make great things with quality, from producing to singing to acting. And one by one, I will be able to change the dialogue and people won’t care about everything that’s happened to me.”
What’s holding her back from the roles she really wants: “I’m young, and I look younger. So the roles that I want to go for, it’s all about how the face is. I can play like I’m 16 still. Doesn’t really work for the things I want to do… I want to have an experience that I would go a little bit stir-crazy with. I like people pushing a little bit.”
I agree that her babyface is probably holding her back from the roles she would love to play, but I also think that “serious directors” don’t want to get involved with an already-established child star-to-pop star artist. Selena goes on to say that she would love to work with David Fincher or David O. Russell, which… that made me shudder. While Fincher is widely established as one of the great directors, he’s also known for putting actors through hell with dozens (sometimes hundreds) of takes. As for DOR… well, he just sounds like an unhinged a—hole. Even Amy Adams says so. But Selena still praises American Hustle and says she would love to give a performance like Amy Adams in Hustle.
Photos courtesy of GQ.
The header photo is doing her no justice, her teeth look grey.
I think the interviewer could have just clarified with her that she meant chemotherapy at the time, rather than mention her mistake in the article.
her young face isnt helping but its not like she is the next Meryl Streep who is unfairly kept away from meaty roles. she isnt even a great singer.
That “Hands To Myself ” song grates on my last nerve!
For the longest time I didn’t even know that was her song. All I can think of is her early super poppy songs. I forget sometimes that she’s aging and not just like Wizards of Waverly Place Selena.
i agree! she act and cant sing! she comes with her boo hoo story cry me a river in 4 0 years no one will remember her name
She’ll appreciate her very young looks when she’s much older. It may restrict her now but when you see actors doing everything to look younger she will have natural youth on her side.
I’m sure her baby face holds her back. I’m always startled and a little uncomfortable to see her in very sexy clothes and poses because her face looks like she’s 14.
I’m sure it’s very difficult to be a child or teenage star. And I’m not minimizing that, but they seems to have this very idealized idea of what it’s like to be a “normal” teenager – you could do whatever you wanted without anyone commenting, you would be free, you would never have to work, it would be fun, fun, fun…no, not so much. You wouldn’t have your every move come back to haunt you on the internet, true. Unless you got drunk and someone taped you giving a boy a bj, like the daughter of a friend of mine who almost killed herself over it. You would never have to work, unless your parents were poor and you started working at age 10 delivering newspapers at 5:00 a.m. or after school at the grocery store, not quite as exciting as being on TV. It would be nonstop fun, unless like millions of teens you found it incredibly boring and couldn’t wait to be grownup and out of school and free. My point is that teenage years are pretty tough and emotionally painful on most everybody in one way or another. The grass is just greener and all that.
Great comment. I can’t muster a lot of sympathy for celebs ( no matter their age) who complain about being famous.
Also, if you don’t want your every move YOU put up on twitter and instagram then don’t have an account. Simple, because no matter what security you put in place it can be hacked and the best way is not to have it at all. That goes for anyone, famous or not.
I think she’s talking about fans hunting her down and tracking her movements via social media, and not her own posts. If you search any celeb on twitter, and look through their ‘fan’ accounts, it’s actually so creepy. The fans stalk social media for any mentions of their faves, bombard anybody who sees them for all the details, find out who the celeb’s friends are and stalk their sm pages. Even celebrities who don’t have social media or who rarely post personal stuff can easily be tracked by their fans who have no qualms about stalking them and posting all that information on the internet for anybody to find.
Case in point, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth went to a lot of effort to conceal their reunion. Yet it was revealed because of fans stalking social media. The pictures that came out were all taken by people who spotted them, shared it on social media and then spread across the world by fans. The traditional media picked up on the story after fans had already combed through the sm accounts of the Hemsworths’ family and friends.
There are definitely celebs who overshare, but even the ones who try to maintain their privacy have their every move tracked. It has nothing to do with being hacked. It has nothing to do with oversharing. It’s fans who have obsessive levels of interest in their faves and no boundaries when it comes to their privacy. I actually believe that the fans are as bad as the paps now, but celebs cannot say that because it will alienate the people they need to support them. They don’t actually need the paparazzi anymore so they can complain about them all they like.
It’s easy to say that the knew what they were getting into, but for anybody who started out even five years, they had no idea the level of intrusion and scrutiny they would be put under by their fans, never mind the traditional media.
@Ninks
This. I think most posters here are not aware of how crazy social media is for celebs with teen fanbases. Your IG and twitter accounts are a fundamental asset – you cant just shut it out without it impacting your career. And stalking is so easy. You’d think stalkers are weird old tech savvy men. No. It’s 14 year old girls with tons of time.
You would also have a lot more privacy if you didn’t post every flippin’ minute of your life.
that’s a great point GNAT
they all seem to think that everyone else is the popular kid in a john hughes movie when their reality would have probably been very different.
Yeah, I think most kids are stressing over studying and getting into the right college. Selena and Justin don’t seem to be into that.
I think kids who are not famous are under stress — it’s just a different kind of stress than Selena Gomez is familiar with. I think the SATs can induce a certain kind of stress on a highly driven kid who probably wants to get into a top school and become a professional in some kind career that’s not acting.
I didn’t understand half her answers. She just kept going on and on and changing the point several times during her answers.
I also have no sympathy for celebs complaining about lack of privacy while posting endless photos from their holidays. If you invite people in to your life you won’t be able to control it.
+1
Thank you for confirming that some of her comments made no sense. I read them several times and still can’t be sure what in the world she was talking about.
Oh good grief! I can’t stand a foul mouth, especially on a young woman. She’s not exactly good at anything but complaining. She’s reached her peak and with her attitude this is probably her “big” moment now.
I love a foul mouth!
Janie honey, whats wrong with a ‘young woman’ having a foul mouth? I suppose its fine on say…young men? ha ha
1000000+ MP
She has a charm but she is going to have to live down the JB association. It does her image no favors and the maybe flirting with him is very junior high school. While she’s engaged in it, I can’t take her seriously.
Talent wise she’s ok. I can see her in light rom coms or a TV show but that’s about it. Perhaps she’s hiding some acting and singing ability somewhere, but I don’t see it at this point.
TBH the only reason she’s still around is because she’s pretty……
And the drama, the silly drunken dramz whether it’s Justin Bieber or falling our with Demi Lovato or Swifty. Beautiful but boring people are instantly forgettable.
Boo effen hoo. This girl never stops complaining. She should count her blessings. She could be a cashier at Drug Mart, but got lucky.
Whine, whine, whine. And stop with the selfies with Baby Bieber every time you two hook back up for a few weeks and your ongoing drama if you want to be left alone and not talked about.
Right? Go away already. Minimally talented soon to be an “oh yeah, her”.
“We’re easy targets”. Only because they allow themselves to be. If your going to be in tough business, learn about it before entering. They tell lies and rumors all the time but if you can’t take it, then don’t do it don’t be in the business.
Oh, come on. She was TEN when she entered the business and 15 when she had her break through role.
How many ten year olds would have done a lot of research if they had her opportunities.
Child stars are exactly that, CHILDREN. They don’t always make the smartest decisions, that’s why they have legal guardians.
Then her legal guardians should have done research. They should have prepared her. She should have know going in.
Yup, it makes perfect sense, a 10 year old should know exactly how difficult being in the public eye can be and how Hollywood works. Shame on her for not doing that homework in between learning the multiplication table and what nouns are.
Agreed. Totally ludicrous thing to demand of a young child.
Besides why should a young woman not be allowed to do her job and earn money, just because some psychos online think a woman doing a job in the public eye is automatically an open invitation to stalkers?
It just isn’t a big deal who comments on your life unless you allow it to be. You still have control. I don’t know why these kids think it is such a big deal. “Life is so hard because people say mean things.” Solutions: ignore; make social media private; do not join social media; cultivate strong friendships and a rich inner life.
PROBLEM SOLVED. What random anonymous strangers say about you on the Internet will no longer be worth your notice. Not the world’s greatest hardship after all.
If only life was as easy as you make it to be. People aren’t robots or machines, they have feelings and insecurities etc.
Sorry but your comment makes you seem pretty naive to me.
Do you really think internet bullying or bullying in general was such a big thing if things where so easy to control?
And often what other people think and say about you (on the internet or elsewhere) will affect your life.
It will influcence you further chances on the job market, your dating life, the first impression people have of you even before they ever had the chance to meet you in person.
Once it’s out there, it’s out there and many people are far too willing to believe rumors spread about you, even if there is zero evidence to back things up.
And it’s even more important if you are in the showbusiness where image is everything.
I disagree. I taught middle school and high school from 2004-2012. I often spent more time with my students than their parents did, so idk how I could be naive about their world.
The biggest difference between the way I grew up and the majority of my teenaged students is pretty straightforward: I was a reader, and the average student today is not. I spent my childhood buried in a book and this not only gave me a larger perspective, it taught me to not pay attention to the opinions of others who just don’t matter.
I saw this same resilience in my teenaged students who were also readers. Reading requires active learning–not passive, as in watching movies or TV where everything is spelled out for you. You have to engage with the material, absorb it, and spend time thinking about it. My students who were readers weren’t just better students, they were more resilient people. They had more perspective; they could navigate stress better; and they were more confident of their own minds. They could confront social dilemmas and problem solve better–for their age–than my students who lived on their phones or X boxes every waking moment outside of class.
Navigating feedback–discerning which opinions matter and which don’t–is an important life skill. You shouldn’t absorb everything you hear or read. You should consider the source; evaluate the validity; and move on from there. These are skills that can be taught, incrementally over time. I spent a lot of time teaching them.
why did you stop teaching? you sound like you did a great job!
And ITA on what you said.
Plenty of actors never even go online ever, except for email and maybe buying stuff on Amazon, and still get relentlessly stalked online and have their families stalked, their relatives and friends FB accounts hacked. I’ve experienced it in my own family.
Besides even if you’re not on social media the press still report on nasty twitter comments about you and phone you up to ask you about it. Look at ‘Hatha-Hate’ Anne Hathaway is not even on Twitter yet for a period every single interview she did, she’d be asked “how does it feel being so despised by Twitter?”
Also some less famous celebs are contractually obligated to be on social media. CDs pay a LOT of attention to your social media “influence.”
I’m amazed at some of the comments here, it’s like most of you have forgotten what it was to be a teenager (not to mention a kid). You are judging her for caring at some point what others think and say…are you kidding me?!?!?!
As a teen you mostly live for validation from your social group and for child (teen) stars in the age of social media the whole world is that social group. So of course she cared, any of us would have cared and the fact that social media blew up the way it did shows that we still care!!! We wouldn’t share so much if we didn’t give a damn what others think.
The problem is that she’s not good at anything that could justify admiration and fame. She basically posts her life away on Internet the way a stupid teenage does without actually being a teenager. I understand the easy target complaint and she’s right, but it’s about time for her to realize how basic and talentless she is.
@ Lorelei You’re wrong when you say “As a teen you mostly live for validation from your social group and for child (teen) stars in the age of social media the whole world is that social group” that’s not true speak for yourself, since you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Yes–you can be taught to not seek validation from peers. Or social validation, period. I hate it when people act like this is just inevitable–that everyone needs to care deeply about what is said about them online.
Or that because people care deeply, this is the only state of being. And everyone making the comments simply needs to change!
Good luck with that perspective in life. The only person you can change is yourself. Selena sounds like she’s very much into critiquing others but not so much into self exploration–she doesn’t even acknowledge that “making a choice” as a child (to be a child star) isn’t a choice at all. As a child, you lack the capacity to make that choice. She should spend some time in therapy addressing what looks like some unresolved issues/anger.
I really like her. She’s got an honesty and charm about her that is very real…..and, if it’s not real then she IS the next Meryl Streep, lol…. Her last album was quite good, she’s got people like Paul Rudd wanting to work with her ~ I think she’s doin’ ok.
There’s no way this chick is ever going to give an Amy Adams level performance.
She needs to search out the roles she needs, not wait for them or hope her face matures faster.
I don’t dislike her, but post-Disney I’m a little baffled as to why she’s as famous as she is. She doesn’t really have a strength. I wouldn’t say Taylor Swift is talented, but she’s shrewd and a good businesswoman. Britney was charismatic in a weird way. Aguilera could sing. I don’t know what Selena Gomez has in her favour. She’s pretty, but no one in her business is ugly…
If she wants a strong acting career, I don’t know if doing pop music videos in your underpants is really a good idea. Has anyone ever succeeded in transitioning into a really good and long acting career by doing that? I think J-Lo actually managed to sabotage her n acting career by choosing to dance around in her underwear, and I think J-Lo has more star quality than Selena does.
Unless you’ve experienced it for yourself you have no idea what it’s like. I have relatives who have become famous and seeing them and their loved ones deal with the fallout is INSANE. And these are private people who don’t give interviews. People outside the industry are incredibly naïve.
David Tennant, an actor I know, is one of the most private people on earth. He’s never had a website or any form of social media, and he’s so private he managed to keep the existence of his two younger children total secret for months after they were born. Yet twice he and his family were chased out of a place they’d gone for a family day out because fans tweeted about seeing him, fansites saw them and basically sat on Twitter all day furiously searching out any mention of him and instantly RT every sighting, fans descended en masse because they knew he was there, and basically people were live tweeting his exact whereabouts within the theme park they were at. Like “They’re leaving the café heading towards X ride right now.”
That’s basically stalking, of a man with four children including a baby, and someone who’s never been online!?
If you weren’t in rehab why is it so hard to just say “No, I was not in rehab.”?
And if you want to be taken seriously as an adult why are you styled in a top that looks like it belongs on a 6 year old child?
In EVERY interview all she does is whine. She is the most negative person I’ve read interviews from. You’re young, pretty, make money with minimal talent. I mean what is so bad in your life? I know she supposedly has Lupus but it obviously isn’t keeping her down. She is always being photographed all over the world doing pretty much nothing. This girl is her own worst enemy and hopefully she’ll either find some positivity or get out of the limelight