Selena Gomez Has A Genius “Tactic” To Get The Roles She Wants

When Selena Gomez has a role in her sights, she’s willing to get creative to land it. The Emilia Pérez star opened up about her acting career in a Hollywood Reporter interview published on Nov. 20 and discussed how being famous doesn’t always work in her favor when it comes to the casting process. Luckily, she has a “tactic” that’s helped her win over some skeptics.

Gomez built her career as a child star at Disney, then expanded into pop stardom. She’s one of the most famous people in the world, and that means people put her in certain boxes. Gomez, however, doesn’t want to be limited.

“I’ve been very strategic and trying my hardest to pick projects that are going to be compelling and not necessarily what people would envision me doing,” she told THR. “That’s something I get a high off of.”

However, Gomez said that directors sometimes don’t see her as a “match” for what they’re doing — without having even seen her audition. She’s had to find a way around the preconceived notions about her and her capabilities: “If they think I’m too young for a part, or whatever the case may be, we use a tactic where we don’t tell them it’s me auditioning so that they just have to accept me auditioning,” she said.

Gomez can’t audition without revealing who she is, of course, but going in without her name gives her the chance to get in front of directors who otherwise might not consider her. She credits the strategy with her casting in 2016’s Fundamentals of Caring. And she’s going to keep doing what she has to do.

“I have goals of wanting to work with specific people, people on my dream board, and so whenever those opportunities arise, I’ll put myself in that room, no matter what it takes,” she said. “And I’ll say, ‘Let me show you that I can do it.’”

A Focus On Acting

In January 2024, Gomez made it clear she’d started prioritizing acting over singing during an episode of the SmartLess podcast. Recalling how her music career grew out of her time starring on Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, she said it was “really fun” to do both at the beginning. But as she got older, it got exhausting and took a toll on her mental health. It felt like time to focus on just one, and acting is her true love.

“I wanted to be an actress,” she said. “I never really intended on being a singer full-time but apparently that hobby turned into something else.”

In her THR interview, Gomez reiterated her focus on acting, saying, “I think I’ve done just as much as I wanted to do in music, but it’s exciting because I feel like I haven’t even started in film and TV, even though I know I’ve been a part of some great projects and I’m really proud of them.”