Selena Gomez reveals why she ‘felt like a joke’ at the start of her adult acting career

‘I felt like it was very difficult for people to take me seriously’

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Selena Gomez has spoken candidly about her acting career and how she “felt like a joke” in her field, following her years as a child star.

The 29-year-old acknowledged how she struggled to be “taken seriously” as an actor, after working on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, during an appearance onThe Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, saying it wasn’t easy for her to be cast in adult acting roles.

“I felt like it was very difficult for people to take me seriously,” she explained. “I have slowly pushed through that, and I’m really glad, but it was very frustrating. I felt like a joke, you know?”

She also recalled how she’s lived her life in the spotlight, as she was “grossed out” when she got photographed by the paparazzi for the first time. As a result, she noted how she tried to avoid the cameras, causing her to feel “constricted”.

“Once that started happening, I felt a little bit constricted, and I think that’s when I lost a little bit of my being a kid,” she said. “Later in life I realised that I missed out on a lot.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she discussed where her career is currently at, as she recently finished filming for Only Murderers in the Building, alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. According to Gomez, through her two co-stars, she has “learned so much,” as they taught her what type of man she’d want as her romantic partner.

“Being around two adult gentlemen — because that’s what they are, they are very sweet and kind and hilarious and inappropriate sometimes and it’s the best — I just learned so much,” she explained. “And my expectation for a man, to be honest, or any human, is to be as decent as these two human beings are. They have been doing this longer than I’ve been alive, and they are the kindest people.”

As Gomez opened up how busy her career is, since she has started “working on new music,” she detailed how her therapist has also questioned her about her love life. However, the Rare singer acknowledged that she’s not rushing to find a relationship, as she’s in a “really good space”.

“My therapist is like, ‘Girl, are you ever gonna find a man?!’ I’m like, ‘I dunno!,’” she said. “But I do feel like right now, in my life, I am just so open, and I love what I do… I just am in a really good space right now, and I’m enjoying it.”

Although she’s happy with how far she’s come, professionally, Gomez said that she still has a lot of projects that she wants to do and people she wants to work with.

“I’m grateful for where I am, but I think and I believe that I’ve barely touched the surface of what I’m able to do,” she added. “I want to work with a David Fincher or a David O. Russell who will push me to the edge to go and fight for something. That’s the kind of acting that I crave to do more than anything.”