Selena Gomez has been in the spotlight for most of her life. At the tender age of 9, she snagged a role in the popular kids’ show Barney & Friends, and her fame only exploded from there. Recently, Selena Gomez opened up about how her child star days affected her, particularly in her 20s.
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After Barney, the now 32-year-old appeared in Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody before snagging the life-changing role of Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place. Since then, she built a successful music career, launched her own production company, July Moon Productions, and has enjoyed continued success in acting. Selena starred in films like Another Cinderella Story, Spring Breakers, the Hotel Transylvania movies, and the award-winning series Only Murders in the Building, among others.
Selena Gomez reflected on her child star days in a new interview.
In an interview with Elle published on November 14, Selena dished on how being a child star has affected herâboth in the short and long term.
âI have no regrets and I have a fantastic family and there were rules laid down by my parents and Iâm appreciative of that,â she told the publication. âHowever, I donât think I wouldâve done it very young if I was thinking of myself now.â
During the sit-down, she admitted she 'felt stunted.'
Selena confessed that there were “a lot of things” she “felt stunted by” in early adulthood.
âThen adding a lot of pressure from a lot of people didnât help me develop a sense of self in my twenties,â she added. âIt was a very difficult time. I live with it every day.â
Today, hindsight is 20/20.
Selena noted that today, she tries her “hardest to stay positive about everything and focus on things like [her new movie Emilia PĂ©rez]Â that really make me happy.” However, she did share one tidbit of advice for her younger self while speaking with Elle. “But I would just say maybe wait and have a little bit of a life,” she revealed.
Selena previously discussed the dark side of growing up as a child star.
âWeâre easy targets,â Selena told GQ in 2016.
The move from child star to taking on adult roles was also difficult to navigate.
For Selena, the transition from acting in children’s shows to more adult roles wasn’t seamless.
“I felt like it was very difficult for people to take me seriously,” she told The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast in 2022. Selena explained that she has “slowly pushed through that, and I’m really glad,” but “it was very frustrating.”
“I felt like a joke, you know?” she added.
However, she acknowledged that she 'chose this.'
During the 2016 GQ interview, Selena pointed out that she “didn’t have the opportunity to figure out my life without people having an opinion every step of the way.” However, the singer-actress also acknowledged that she “chose this.”
“So Iâm not gonna sit here and say, âOh my God, poor me, I didnât have a normal childhood,’â she continued. âI donât give a f— about that.â
