Selena Gomez opens up about the choices she’s proud to make in her career — and regrets.
The Only murders in the building star, 29, sat down with Amy Schumer, Bridget Everett, Molly Shannon, Quinta Brunson and Tracee Ellis Ross for The Hollywood Reporterfrom the Comedy Actress Roundtable, where they discussed the unique challenges of being a woman in the industry. Schumer pointed out that Gomez, who first appeared on Barney and his friends and later starred on Disney Channel as a teenager, was sexualized at a young age. Calling the situation “unfair,” Gomez opened up about feeling insecure about the creative decisions she made during a photoshoot that ultimately left her oversexualized.
“I actually did an album cover and I was really ashamed after I did it,” the “Hands to Myself” singer explained. “I had to get over those feelings because I realized it had to do with something deeper that was going on. And it was a choice I wasn’t necessarily happy I made.
Gomez – who appeared naked but covered on the cover of her second studio album, The comeback – added that she is “not an overly sexual person”.
“Sometimes I like to feel sexy,” she noted, “but [that] doesn’t mean it’s for someone else. It could be for me.
Gomez also shared that she no longer goes to social media — something she’s talked about at length before — because it gives her unrealistic expectations of what she should look like.
“The biggest part of it is you see all these other people and I can’t…I can’t look that way,” she shared. “It’s impossible. It’s just not…I don’t find it feasible.
The the Wizards of Waverly Place alum was also praised by Schumer for speaking out on a number of issues, including tackling online misinformation.
“I really think having this responsibility and this platform given to me, it was kind of molded in me to understand that I had a responsibility,” Gomez explained. “But I just.. why else be here? I want to be remembered for the things that I do, like Amy said. It’s made my whole day. You know, I have the feel like what’s the point if I can’t tell my truth?”
Gomez added that when there’s an issue that she doesn’t feel able to step up to, she uses her influence to pass the mic to someone who can.
“There are some things I can’t talk about and I need the right people to say what’s appropriate…I can’t just post a picture and say, ‘I get it. I get it,” she said. “It’s like, no, not at all. This is not helpful.
One thing Gomez is confident to talk about is mental health. The actress, who has long been candid about her own struggles, including her bipolar diagnosis and anxiety, appeared at the Mental Health Youth Action Forum alongside First Lady Jill Biden last month to encourage young people to take control of their mental health.
“The mentionable becomes manageable,” Gomez said at the event. “Just to add a bit of my journey, I felt like once I found out what was going on mentally…there was more freedom for me to be okay with what I had, because I was learning about it… It sets an example that this is a subject that can and should be discussed freely and without shame.
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