Selena Gomez got her start on Barney & Friends [1] way back in the day, but it wasn't until she landed her breakout role as Alex Russo [2] on the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place that the world started paying close attention. Her Disney days might have looked ideal, but the now-25-year-old recently opened up to Business of Fashion about what was really going on behind the scenes and the moment she realized her public image wasn't about her work [3] anymore.
"I think it changed when I started getting known for things that weren't [related to] my work. That's when my passion started to feel like it was going further and further away. And that scared me. When I was younger, it was all fun to me. When I did state fairs and 100 people would show up, I was stoked. That was the best feeling in the world. But when I got older, I started to become exposed to the truth behind some stuff and that's when it flipped a little bit. I realized that, 'Oh, this is actually really hard, and kind of slimy in certain areas,' and I didn't realize that certain people wanted certain things from me. My confidence went through a lot with that."
Looking back, Selena said her perspective on her career changed when she was a teenager and began dating her now ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber [4]. "I remember just feeling really violated when I was younger, even just being on the beach," she continued." I was maybe 15 or 16 and people were taking pictures — photographers. I don't think anyone really knew who I was. But I felt very violated and I didn't like it or understand it, and that felt very weird, because I was a young girl and they were grown men. I didn't like that feeling. Then, I would say the last season of my show, I was probably 18 years old, is when I felt like the flip happened. I didn't feel like it was about my art as much. I was on the fourth season of the show, and I felt like I was outgrowing it. I wanted something different and obviously I fell in love for the first time. There was all this stuff that was happening and I didn't know what to do."
Since her breakup and the end of her Disney show, Selena canceled her Revival tour [5], checked into a rehab facility [6] to deal with symptoms connected to her lupus diagnosis, and returned to the spotlight three months later [7] with an emotional speech at the 2016 American Music Awards. Now, she looks happier than ever in her relationship with The Weeknd [8] and is keeping busy releasing new music and starring in a Woody Allen film [9].
"I have to take care of myself and not feel guilty about it," she concluded. "I will say no when I need to say no, and I will make sure that I will not overdo everything because I feel like if I don't accept everything that's happening, then maybe it seems like I'm ungrateful, or I'm not doing enough. I just have to take care of myself. Therapy, faith, hard work, kindness. That's it."