Before there was Selena Gomez Lac or Selena the badass business lady or Selena the kick ass producer.
She was this a young girl from Texas that already knew what she wanted to be by the age of six.
Inspired by her mother's short time on stage, Selena had wanted to dazzle many the same way, but on.
A much much larger scale.
Between working jobs at david Busters and Starbucks.
Or digging through their car for enough change to have dinner that night.
Selena's mom would perform at her community theater production.
And she'd often bring Selena along.
One day, little Selena turned to her mom and said, Mom, I want to do what you want to do, and that she.
Would come with us as we explore the other wildly successful site of Selena's fame, her evolution as an actress.
I'm your host Liliana Ooscaz.
And I'm Joseph Carrio and This is Becoming an Icon.
A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on how today's most famous latinv stars have shaped pop culture and given the world some extra level.
Sit back and get comfortable.
Because we are going in the only way we know how.
With whenas with us, buenasriesas.
And a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on our journey to find out what makes them so iconic.
Joseph, we know that you love a Selena song.
You have multiple playlists that inspire you on the daily led by Selena. But how much of Selena's acting career are you familiar with?
Dude? You are going to be shocked because I am not very, very, very familiar with Selena's acting career because I wasn't introduced to Selena like that, so her acting and me is.
Rare, very very good plug there.
So, have you ever seen an episode of Wizards of Waverley Place?
I have, I have, but I was not watching the show. I was a little older, so it.
Wasn't you were like you had aged at all?
Was in my twenties Okay, let's be clear. No, but I was a little bit older, so it's not something that I was into.
I think that's so funny that you said you were in your twenties. Bitch, you are such a liar. You are in your thirty and no, you were not watching Disney. I am with you right there. I feel like for me. I'm trying to think of all of the different Disney stuff that I was happening that people were like high school musical Wizards of Waverley Place, Hannah, Montana. None of
that is of our generation. Would I say Disney was not ever present in the way that it was when you and I were growing up, Like I always thought of Disney just as like the Disney franchise, cartoons and movies. I never thought of it as sitcoms and shows in the way that this younger generation views Disney like that was it for me.
It was like, oh, the.
Lion King, that's legit, Okay, so beyond Disney obviously she started there. But were you a Selena movie fan or are you really just connected to.
Her through the music?
Just the music? Really?
I love that. So that gives us.
A really interesting place to work from for this episode, because I think what people don't realize is that she's been so successful in both and Selena's story proves that with the right support and a lot of hard work, you can really accomplish anything.
Selena was straightforward with her mom. She said I want to do this, and her mom listened.
Can you imagine being so self assured about your life choices at the age of.
Honest to big G, I can't. She saw the future and went for it.
It was two thousand and two when our mother drove her to an audition for Barney and Friends.
At this point, she was seven and her parents had already been separated for two years.
She booked the show and Barney provided an escape she didn't know she needed.
She didn't have to face real life.
Plus, you could never go on with Crafty on set as a kid unlimited snacks. I mean kind of like how I want to be right now? Are you sure we can't negotiate that snack budget.
We don't even have a water budget.
Okay, we're definitely not getting Crafty becoming an icon. While on side of Barney, she got to work alongside Demi Lovado, playing the character of Gianna for two seasons.
Their little friendship meet Cute was in fact cute. Okay.
So there was about fifteen hundred kids at that very first open audition for the show, and Demi had actually been standing in line and right in front of cell.
By the end of it, only seven kids made the cut, including of course Demi and Selena.
They didn't know the other had gotten picked until they saw each other on the first day of filming.
They both shared that during their I Love You, You Love Me days they were super close.
But by the age of ten, Selena had aged out of Barney.
Okay, wait, we all know Selena got her start on Barney, but I kind of feel like, didn't you get your start on Barney?
That is very generous to you.
No, I was never cast on Barney, but I was in the mix, as I would describe it. So I was enrolled in like an acting workshop in Dallas, which is where Barney was filmed. And I remember being in this class and it was like a mixed age class, so it was like kids of all ages. And there were flyers posted about the Barney auditions at my school. And you know who else was enrolled in this particular workshop.
Tell me Barney himself.
Wait, like Barney the Purple Dino. Yeah, like the actor inside of there.
Like, yes, David Joyner, the actual actor in Barney was taking classes here and that got posted at my school. And so, no, I did not audition for Barney. I was very close. I think I was a little bit too old to actually audition, But yeah, Selena and I could have been on the same show to get.
Dudude one degree, one degree. We're so close now.
Despite all of the really kind of shitty things that have come to life about the show, it did provide Selena the escapism she needed, and as quickly as it came, it was taken.
Away and she was desperate to get it back.
Post Barney, Selena spent the next five years flying back and forth between Texas and LA trying to make it.
She lived in a one bedroom part in downtown Los Angeles with Demi Lovado and her family.
During her time in LA, she booked a number of projects like Spy Kids, three D, Gameover, she.
Was on an episode of the Sweet Life of Zach.
And Cody, and she even managed to snag a recurring role on Hannah Montana opposite Miley Cyrus.
In the grand scheme of things, it was going well, but all the back and forth became too much and too costly, especially when all she had to her name was a Disney perdian.
Look at you with all the industry lingo per diem for.
Those who don't know, that basically means an allowance.
Well, her hard work finally paid off when Selena booked the lead role of Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverley Place, a show following a family of wizards who own a restaurant in New York City.
Soon it was Audio Sluonsar State and Hello La laland.
This time permanently.
Selena and her mother relocated to sunny California, where she would have an entire show.
To carry, and that quickly made her a teen idol.
That probably seems like a dream come true for any teen, and it was until the bubble burst.
Papa Rozzi started showing up on set.
And let's be honest, grown men with cameras in your face can be overwhelming, no matter what age.
I mean.
Just look at Ben Affleck. He is always bothered.
But at fifteen, I mean, it's a lot.
And remember this fame wasn't gradual for Selena. These were the Disney days. She was constantly promoting the show. She had no semblance of a normal teen life. Her entire life was Disney.
Her very self became a product, her face, her voice, her likeness, her private life.
She says, that was my job, in a way, to be perfect. You're considered to figure. You kids look up to and they take that seriously there, Oh my god, no kidding right, like Disney owns you forever.
But despite being under a microscope, she held her own and did her job.
The show was a wild success, receiving numerous accolades, including an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program, and.
The critics loved everything Selena brought to the character. Alex was pure snark and we wanted more.
The audience loved everything about Selena and her character, the clothes, the style, even her mannerisms on the show.
The attention she received was a why old, but nothing compared to what was next when she joined the cast of Another Cinderella Story. It was two thousand and eight.
Britney Spears was making her comeback with Circus. Miley Cyrus was turning heads and causing controversy with a Vanity Fair shoot that left her more exposed than people were used to, and.
High School Musical was taking on the silver screen with their third film.
With Selena's idols and colleagues making moves, it was time for her to do the same.
She stepped away from the.
Disney sitcoms for just a second to give teen Musicals a shot. Another Cinderella Story was a Cinderella retelling in a more modern setting.
It starts Selena Gomez, Drew Seeley and Jane Lynch, and it was a sequel to a Cinderella story from two thousand and four.
The first film had been a huge success with our Girl Hilarya.
So Selena had big shoes to fill or should I stay shoe EO, don't don't lobe.
The film became a fan favorite, but amongst critics, no one could get over the ten year age gap between Selena and Drew, her love interest in the film.
Ten years better. Okay, go Sade, this isn't the fifties.
I know, I know.
It's actually a little hard to watch him not gonna lie and she was quickly with right back to the Disney channel after this.
That's for But.
Disney, as we know by now, was making sure that they could make the most out of Selena's rising theme.
She started a crossover episode with other shows on the network like The Sweet Life on Deck and Sonny with a Chance for the Sweet Life on Deck. It was an extra special crossover episode called Wizard on Deck with Hannah mo Onza. Now when I say those titles, you're probably like, oh, I don't even know what those shows are, but let me just explain to you the like fucking Schmorgesborg of Disney characters that were on the show. So, The Sweet Life on Deck starred the Sprouse twin brothers,
Cole and Dylan, right. Then you had Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana.
Then you had.
Selena Gomez as Alex from Wizards of Waverley Place. All of these people came together on a boat like what is like?
What is this?
It had three different logos in the title. I don't even know who pitched this, but they are a gene yes.
So basically, the Disney channel was doing crossovers before they were cool exactly.
And while she was on Sunny with a Chance, she was reunited with Demi Lovado and their undeniable chemistry got the exacts at Disney thinking.
Why don't they start in a movie together.
Demi and Selena had known each other since they were kids.
They grew up together in and out.
Of the business, and now they were working together on this same network.
It only felt right that they would work on a project together.
Right exactly, And in two thousand and nine they start alongside each other in the Disney Channel original film, Princess Protection Program.
It was the first Disney Channel original movie to be shot in Puerto Rico.
Guys, if you thought The Sweet Life on Deck with Selena and Miley and all the Disney child actors was wild, this film is truly wild. So it takes place in Louisiana, where Selena's character Carter lives with her dad.
Her dad saves Demi Levado's character Princess Rosalinda from a military coup.
Rosalina then flees her small country and has to live in hiding with Carter and her dad. But later on in the movie, the popular girl in the school blows Rosie's cover and basically helps the general that almost killed the princess find her just so she can be homecoming.
Am I just ty? Or is that really the plaid?
Oh no, somebody wrote that. By the way, that's not all.
They also had a royal dress designer named mister.
Mister Now one hundred percent, I know you're just making this up.
I'm not, but this is the way of Disney Channel films, and it doesn't matter whether you or I liked it.
Viewers loved it.
And with all of these Disney shows, once you start watching, you kind of just get sucked in facts.
And after that, Disney could not get enough of la.
The Wizards of Waverley Place movie was also filmed there, and so we're both teen beach movies.
If Princess Protection Program was considered a big hit, Wizards of Waverley Place movie surpassed it big time.
Do you love that they're so lazy that they just add movie to the end of the show title. They didn't even bother to come up with like a catchy title like Wizards of Waverley Place, la islato. They were just like, no, y'all, it's just Wizards of Waverley Place movie.
That's it.
Girl. Money is time, Money is timeh.
So Wizards of Waverly Place Movie premiered in August and became Cable's number one scripted telecast of that entire year, Like did it do bigger numbers than current day succession?
Like I need to know that?
Well? Eleven point four million viewers?
What the fuck?
It won the series its second consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program at the sixty second Primetime Emmy Awards.
With all these Disney movies doing so well, maybe it's time to make lead to bigger.
Projects, and there were plenty for her.
There was Ramona and Bezas alongside Joey King. Then you had Money Carlo, with Leyton Measter and Katie Cassidy.
Hmmm, I don't know any of these movies.
Well, dear, unlike you, most people watching these were you know, nich Hoven's Hoven.
He knew you were going to say that, bitch.
But that didn't mean Selena didn't take it seriously. Our girls, Selena went all in. She learned how to play polo, She had a dialect coach. She was committed to these roles.
What film was she doing where she needed all that money?
Carlo?
Anyways, that year, Wizards of Waverley Place officially ended its run on the Disney Channel after four seasons, which meant Homeworld was out of a job.
Okay, not exactly.
She was cast in Hotel Transylvania as Mavis opposite Adam Sandler. That film was a commercial success, making over three hundred and fifty eight million dollars worldwide.
But like me, Selena was getting older and all these kid roles just weren't cutting it anymore.
While they did feel like career accelerators. Selena wanted more from her films. She wanted to challenge.
She needed something stronger to stay relevant in k A twenty four and spring Break. If you don't know what A twenty four is, you're probably not a film nerd like my co hosts.
By the way, I take that as a compliment, so thank you. I will gracefully accept the title film nerd. But people adamantly obsessed with spring Breakers fall at the feet of this indie.
Production and distribution company.
Now, they're best known for shows like Euphoria with Zende, So like, do you get the drift? Like, do you understand what they're like?
God stop, Yes, when you said Euphoria, the visuals hit me like it is indy, it's raw, it's real.
Yes, and it doesn't stop there.
They're also responsible for twenty twenty three Best Picture winner at the Oscars. Everything everywhere, all at once, So they're on another level, like on another level creatively artistically, like they're amazed. But back in twenty twelve, right over a decade ago, they were kind of the new kids on the block. When they released their second film, spring Breakers, this film officially put them on the map.
Also, I just want to say. You will take any chance to say new kids on the block, won't you? I love it.
I am NKOTB four life.
That's what my tattoo says.
Well, anyways, this gave Selena a new spin on her image, and I vividly remember that bikini photoshoot.
I love that.
The one thing you remember about this era is the bikini photo shoot, and it's actually very central to the movie because they literally are in their bikinis the whole time. So if you haven't seen spring Breakers, here's a quick synopsis. The film follows a group of college girls that rob a fast food joint for cash to fund their spring break. So we got to talk about the film because it's directed by Harmony Korin, so he is known for making I mean, oh god, kids, okay, don't and gummo that
really dive into very like taboo type topics. I want to call it counterculture is probably the best way to sum it up. So if there was a film that was going to change the way the world saw Selena, it was going to be at the hands of Harmony, like no question about it. And this was, let's just say, a very mature role for Selena. Like for her to go from Alex in Wizards of Place to playing this role in the film. And I will say, like, Selena is not in so many of like more kind of
shocking scenes in spring Breakers. But that being said, like the entire again, it's a dark movie. And KRN referred to this film as beach noir and just for you guys to get an idea of who was in this film, of course Selena was in it, but you also had Vanessa Hudgens, another Disney girly. Originally it was supposed to be Emma Roberts, but she ended up dropping out because of how dark the film was, so she was replaced
with Ashley Benson. So you had four very young women tackling i would say, a very sexually driven style of film. And so many people really had issues with women like Selena and Vanessa doing this film, and people came for her heart, like why would you do this? Why would you do this to my child? It's not Selena's job to parent for you.
It is just doing her job exactly.
And spring Breakers, as you can probably tell, has become a cult classic since its release, and that.
Cult status meant Selena could play in the big leagues.
She began booking roles with Hollywood heavyweights like Ethan Hawk, but when those movies didn't perform as well as Spring Breakers, Selena well, she went back to Disney, and while Wizards was done, Selena went back to Disney Channel for a special called The Wizard's Return Alex Versus Alex, where, yes, you guessed it, Alex has to fight herself hold on.
The Wizards Return Alex Versus Alex.
You're absolutely right with this writing, Like, you guys have so much money, and you know, I wonder if they keep it like this because it's just so simple, you know, like saying the Wizard's Return. You know what I understand, The Wizards have returned. The positive side of her return though she both started in it and was one of the executive producers, but.
Her return to the Channel was a one time thing because immediately after she was off to act and behaving badly.
Honestly, what the f is with these titles?
This is why there's a writer's strike done. The writers are like, we've had enough.
Y'all keep canceling our good shows, you keep picking bad titles.
These studio executives don't know what the fuck they're doing. Can we just get the writers back? Can y'all give them what they deserve?
Like, can we support these people that write brilliant screenplays?
Just get the fucking writers backus? And it was around.
This time she had to take a break from her career to go to rehab. While she was away, people really felt her absence. When she came back, the Teen Choice Awards in twenty fourteen awarded her the Ultimate Choice Award for her contributions to the entertainment industry.
Well, this was confirmation that her career wouldn't take a hit from the tableaus. Things were beginning to shift.
In April, Selena fired her mother and stepfather, Brian Tefey, as her managers, only to sign with one of the biggest agencies in the world WM.
That opened up a lot of roles that kept Selena booked and busy, but none of these movies made a significant difference in her career.
She made the Hotel Transylvania movies and they performed well, but let's be honest, they weren't revolutionary.
Selena also got to work with vampire Paul Rudd.
Ugh wait he was in twilte what oh?
He literally does not age.
That's true.
By the way, Selena needs to hire Paul Rudd to do rare beauty skin.
No stop making her richer, please, She's fine.
Okay, back to Selena, since this is not becoming an icon Paul Rudd.
All of it was fun and easy, but Selena reached a point where she wanted her work to mean something.
More, especially after she opened up about her journey with lupus in twenty fifteen.
She was in and out of treatment centers and it was a lot emotionally, mentally, physically.
Singing had given her an outlet to deal with all of these emotions. But she loved acting. She loved the industry. She loved show business.
She wanted to be involved with a project that she could pour her experience and vulnerability into.
She had loved producing her Wizard Special. It had been great practice, and it gave her an idea, maybe thirteen ideas, more like thirteen Reasons.
Selena had been trying to adapt Thirteen Reasons Why for years.
The young adult novel by Jay Asher was published in two thousand and seven. Selena's mom had read the book while she was still managing her daughter and thought it would be a great idea for them to adapt it.
Time passed while the project tried to get on its feed, and Selena had aged out of the role of the main character, Hannah Baker, but that didn't mean that she had to step back from the project altogether.
In twenty fifteen, the production finally got a green light at Netflix. Selena would serve as executive producer alongside her mom. It premiered in March twenty seventeen and became a milestone in Selena's career, with the series lasting four seasons. At the time, this show was something to talk about.
Good press, bad press, It doesn't matter.
I just remember how much attention this brought to a Netflix, right this is twenty seventeen, and also to suicide in teens and mental health, and for that Selena should be given like all of the accolades.
Yeah, I was going to say that, it's just like she's bringing mental health stuff forward. Do you think it was the interests content?
I think it shined a light on it, and when people aren't ready to see what is in that light, then they say that you're glamorizing it. But this was happening, This was real, and when you talk to teens that were watching the show, like it's like euphoria. It's an extreme and it's uncomfortable to watch it. But like, this isn't coming out of nowhere. Like she said, there's going to be backlash no matter what, because this isn't an easy subject to talk about. People don't want to see this,
they don't want to talk about it. You're bringing attention to something that needed to be spoken about.
It's just really interesting, like the roles that she's played and then something like thirteen Reasons Why. It's a very o no im And.
I think what's interesting for her is, you know, repositioning her as an executive producer on this project instead of having her act in the project was really smart because she came up through Disney, like she saw these kids, She knew who her audience was, and her audience that watched her on Wizards of Waverley Place became the audience that was in high school at the time that Thirteen Reasons Why hit Netflix, So she wanted to give them something to say, hey, I see you people suffer and
it's not okay to be cruel. There's no doubt why this show was such a critical success and why thirteen Reasons Why was the most tweeted about show of twenty seventeen, and You Guys was also the most watched original streaming series of twenty eighteen.
She was quietly killing the game.
Like to have the most watched streaming series of the year. That's fucking major. And as an executive producer like this girl knows what she's doing, Like, do not undervalue or discredit Selena.
Ever.
Ever, Selena was approached about a project called Living Undocumented in twenty seventeen. After seeing early footage for the Netflix docuseries. She was more than convinced. Okay, guys, bear with me to read something very long. She wrote an op ed for Time, and she shared her family's immigration story and why she was inspired to make this particular documentary.
It's long, so I'm ready.
I'm ready for it. Give it to me, coming her break down, let me get my not chock.
And most importantly, listen. Here's what she wrote.
In the nineteen seventies, my aunt crossed the border from Mexico to the United States hidden in the back of a truck. My grandparents followed when my father was born in Texas. Soon after, in nineteen ninety two, I was born a US citizen. Thanks to their bravery and sacrifice.
Over the past.
Four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship. Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance.
But when I read the news headlines.
Or see debates about immigration rage on social media, I feel afraid for those in similar city situations.
I feel afraid from my country.
She wanted to give a face to the issue as many were facing because of immigration policy. It proved that she was more than just headlines. In her words, it's a human issue that affects real people.
Her hit series for Netflix kept her busy, So let's fast forward to twenty twenty. Although, Joseph, that could be traumatic for you because those were our days of getting up at four thirty in the morning for E news.
Do we have to go back there? I also don't want to go back to COVID.
I know, I know, But with the pandemic, Selena, like the rest of the world, took a step back to breathe, and she brought her work home like all.
Of us actually worked from home. But how is that taking a step back to breathe? Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air. She's literally the.
Hustler, always on that hustle.
While she was home, she hosted and executive produced her own cooking show on HBO Max called Selena and Chef Appreciate.
The Grind, putting us all in our place, I mean, making us look lazy RISBC.
The show was inspired by Selena's own experiences trying to cook for herself during quarantine.
Same it was marketed as unrehearsed, unfiltered, unscripted, and if all that wasn't enough, Selena added something else to her plate, becoming a whole ass business woman.
In twenty twenty, in the middle of a global pandemic, Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty, inspired by her twenty twenty album Rare.
Oh my God, are you obsessed with the liquid blush? I have not encountered texture like that when you touch it and play with it. If you guys don't know, it is really good quality products.
Rarely you will get a beauty brand that crosses into consumer and artist, meaning consumers enjoy using it as much as artists enjoy using it. There's not a lot of them, but this is one of them. Why Joseph, Why for me?
I think that she really believes in makeup as opposed to like another starlet creating a beauty brand. Like she is this person that really invested and was like thinking about beauty. She is the type of person that thought about this brand as well, like it was part of it the image of it. Does that make sense?
It makes perfect sense.
And when she was interviewed about why she wanted to branch out into the industry, she said, this, My main purpose when I started Rare Beauty was to break down the unrealistic standards of beauty we see in society today.
There's so much pressure on us to be perfect.
I decided to create Rare Beauty to challenge the conversations around beauty. I'm going to be very honest here to say that I generally will not buy a beauty brand that is founded by a celestri same because I believe in the artistry of makeup. I believe in the Pat McGraths of the world, the Kevin o'kwan's.
You know. When she came out with this line, I was like, Oh, I want to go see it, which is very funny because when other people have come out with stuff, I'm always like I don't want it, and I get sent everything everything. I'm like, I don't want it, I'm not interested. I just get this stuff. But with Seleaner where beauty please send us stuff, send you my address.
Send all of the highlighters, all of the plushes, and I will do the all of it and please the concealers.
Those are my favorite concealers.
Like I was very curious because I don't think that Selena would have created something that was not well thought out. I don't fucking know her, but I was like, oh, this is going to be a good product. I thought that, and you know what it fucking is.
It is And within its first year of launching, Rare generated sixty million dollars in revenue.
And when you have conversations.
In our world, in the beauty fashion style world about makeup, two brands that always get put in the same category of excellence are Rare Beauty and Fenigue.
Like a lure stamped classified best selling. They are real brands that are making a difference with their imagery, with what they stand for with their inclusivity.
Like its next level and if you guys have not tried rare beauty, this is hashtag not sponsored.
By the way, but we're open to it.
We're open to it.
So Selena made a name for herself as an actress, She.
Made a name for herself as a singer in English and in Spanish.
My bilingual queen.
Then she was a bomb ass executive producer and a beauty mogul.
What comes next.
The best of them all?
Selena signed on to star and executive produce Get It Girl, the Hulu mystery comedy Only Murders in the Building, along with Steve Martin and Martin short.
It is a recipe for success for the little Chef.
The role mark Selena's return to television in a role as a series regular.
Since Wizards and History repeats itself, just like Wizards was for the Disney Channel, it was a huge hit for the streamer.
It was the most watched comedy premiere in Hulu history. The critics love it, and it's gone on to receive numerous nominations and awards.
This most recent role forced her to take a look back on all her previous projects. She realized that signing her life away to Disney in those early days really affected how she viewed herself.
Finally being able to play a character that matched her age in real life made her fully reflect on how far she's come.
It was almost like she's finally a loud herself to feel comfortable where she was in her life. At the seventy fourth Primetime Emmy Awards, she was nominated as a producer for the Outstanding Comedy Series.
By the way, this is only the third time a Latina has ever been nominated as a producer for a comedy series in the Awards history, and much like jay Lo with Hustlers and the Oscars, many expressed how disappointed they were that Selena failed to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Even Steve Martin and Martin Short were like, yo, guys, what gives.
They released a statement that said, we're a little dismayed that Selena didn't get nominated because she's so crucial to the trio, to the show.
She kind of balances us.
But it's okay. She had bigger and better things coming up. Having found peace with where she was in life, Selena thought it was the perfect moment to open up to the world in a new way.
In twenty twenty two, Selena released her documentary My Mind and Me.
Directed by Alish Kashshian. The film follows Selena through six years of her life, starting in twenty fifteen.
They had worked together on Selena's Hands to Myself music video, and Selena wanted to continue collaborating with Kashishian. He was no stranger to the doc game. He had famously worked on Madonna Truth or Dare Back in nineteen ninety one, eh Big.
He was also clear that he had no interest in making another traditionally pop doc, so they took on a different approach.
Throughout a series of interviews, Selena maintains that she lets the hate and headlines motivate her, but Kashshian, well, he captures something quite different.
We see Selena break down and it's just so raw and it's so.
Real and in my mind and me, we get to see something more vulnerable and authentic. Selena let him capture everything. And you guys, they did not expect this to be a project that expanded over six years, Yet here it is. It premiered at the AFI Fest in November twenty twenty two, and was released two days later on Apple TV Plus.
Okay, so, if you are an Android user like me, like kept download app and it's like a whole thing, but it's worketh it and critics loved it. It received the Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment by the Critics' Choice Association.
And just in case there's like three people out there that have not seen this documentary and want to know how it really just centers on her and her journey and her healing, I'm going to let Rolling Stone describe it, they said. Any preliminary ideas that this might be a puff piece more vanity project are shattered five minutes in when the mental anguish that caused Gomez to cancel her twenty sixteen revival tour early and check herself into a
treatment facility is on full, painful, tearful display. It's almost hard to watch. Like I have to say, when I watched it the first time, I watched it in pieces. And part of that is because you have to remember that I have worked in entertainment journalism for ten years, so I am part of this machine, right. I work on these shows that are sometimes rooted in rumor and scandal. It's my job, and I'm very proud of my job, and I'm very proud of the work that I do.
And I'm also very proud of the fact that, you know, I have always stood my ground when it came to reporting things that felt mean spirited, or that felt false, or that felt like we didn't have enough information to run with it. I'm not saying that I wasn't overruled in an editorial meeting, but for somebody that covers this industry and who transacts on celebrity and fame, I had to watch it in parts because you see her like literally breaking down after an entire day of a junket.
And I've been the reporter that sat across from Selena, And for me, this film was less about like, oh, she can't show up, it's what does this cause her to feel like in the days after, and when you see her like unable to get out of bed, like screaming at her friends, angry, like roaming her house, like you see it, You're like, shit, we did that, Yeah, we did that to her.
Well, people don't understand about celebrities or people of influence, right, just anybody anything very demanding is that you really always have to be on, but you have to be on in a way that's like not really you and that is just so mentally taxing, like Janos is what all?
It's true?
And you know, to give you guys context for what she was going through during the documentary.
Remember she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease lupus, right, which is triggered and accelerated by stress. Okay, Then she had a kidney transplant in twenty seventeen. On top of that, she had a highly publicized makeup and break up with Justin Bieber. Then the weekend.
Then she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which she first shared with us in that episode of Miley Cyrus's Instagram show. Bright minded all of that while she was executive producing starring Building a Beauty Empire. So we ask a lot of our people, but like at the end of the day, I think Selena also asks a lot of herself and the combination of those two, like how does somebody even survive this.
When you come from hubble beginnings as we have, You know, we don't know how to stop working.
That idea of the constant work, Like you hear it referred to a lot as being on the hamster wheel. My therapist described it and defined it for me as a scarcity mind set. Yeah, you do not come from abundance because you do not know abundance. And it is not about I need more money, I need a bigger house. It is that I don't know if I'm going to have another meal.
And the crazy thing is is that you you have a you can have a big house and all of these things, and it steal fucking feels the same way.
Yes, it does not matter because that is generational trauma that is passed down. It is in our DNA. It is the way we are wired and it takes so much work to unprogram yourself from that. But again, having these conversations like we are having this conversation on this podcast because we're talking about sling.
Look what Selena did.
She gave us the opportunity to have this conversation.
So thank you, Selena. We love you.
Despite all the ups and downs of Selena's career, one thing is for certain that we.
Deserve exclusive promo codes from Rare Beauty. Honestly, I need a restock on these blushes and the lipoile.
I agree with you. One hundred percent.
But what I was gonna say was that Selena never fails to surprise and delight the world beyond iconic. I love that we live in a world where someone with so much strength and resilience exists, and I, for one, and I speak for Joseph as well, cannot wait to see what she does next.
On the next Becoming an Icon, we bring back our boy Bruno Mars and sit down with guests to discuss how both Bruno and Selena have changed a landscape of entertainment.
Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael dudda podcast network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast