Selena Gomez Says Post-Disney Role inSpring BreakersWas Her Most 'Challenging': 'It Was Such a Crazy Detour'

Mar. 15, 2025

Selena Gomez in ‘Spring Breakers’ in 2012.Photo:Alamy

Alamy

Selena Gomezis looking back at her role in the provocative crime comedySpring Breakers.

TheEmilia Pérezstar sat for an interview withEllealongside current costarsZoe Saldaña, andKarla Sofía Gascónin which she called her role in directorHarmony Korine’s 2012 filmher “most challenging.”

“I was only 18 or 19,” Gomez, now 32, explained. “It was the first thing I did right after my Disney show and it was such a crazy detour.”

Selena Gomez in ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ in 2013.Eric McCandless/Disney Channel via Getty

The film’s September 2012 world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival came just nine months after Gomez’s Disney Channel sitcomWizards of Waverly Placeended its four-season run. While Gomez played a devoutly religious good-girl foil to costarsAshley Benson,Vanessa Hudgensand Rachel Korine’s wild party girls in the film, the R-ratedSpring Breakerswas nonetheless a departure for the young actress, who had previously only appeared in Disney properties and other family-friendly flicks like 2010’sRamona and Beezus.

According to Gomez, the film marked a turning point for her. “That’s when I knew I was going to fall in love with filmmakers and really gritty, fun stuff that was a little too graphic,” she toldElle.

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Earlier this year, she toldVarietythat her mother,Mandy Teefey, 48, had been a fan of Korine’s previous work and was instrumental in helping her land the role inSpring Breakers. She described the film as “a project I’m proud of despite its uniqueness.”

Selena Gomez in October 2024.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

WithEmilia Pérez, Gomez has once again tackled a unique endeavor. French director Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical drama centers on Gascón’s title character, a transgender Mexico City drug cartel leader trying to find a way out of her life of crime.

The film, which premiered on Netflix on Nov. 13, has received rave reviews, and Gomez, Saldaña, Gascón and costarAdriana Pazwere named joint winners of the Best Actress award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The movie was also selected as France’s entry for the Best International Feature Film award for the upcoming 97th Academy Awards.

source: people.com