Selena Gomez Talks Life After ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’

By: Paulette Cohn

When  ”Wizards of Waverly Place” airs on Friday, it will be the swan song for the popular Disney Channel series, but not for its breakout star Selena Gomez. The 19-year-old had been a relative unknown before being cast as the magical Alex Russo, but these days the 19-year-old actress/singer is not only known internationally, but she is dating one of the hottest pop superstars going: Justin Bieber — and she is modest about it.

“Nothing has changed for me,” she says during an interview for the series finale of “Wizards.” “I do get recognized occasionally, but I am not scared of that. I want to do things. I want to go out. I want to see the places that I am going to, so I don’t let that be a factor.”

In addition to “Wizards,” Gomez has starred in two top-rated movies TV movies, “Princess Protection Program” and “Another Cinderella Story,” feature films like “Monte Carlo,” as well as released the platinum singles “Naturally” and “Who Says.” With the series behind her, the multi-talent is looking forward to expanding her career in those two areas. She admits, “There is so much I haven’t done.  This [series] is just me like stepping a little bit. I am going to do a lot of different things with my music, my acting and my charity work.”

In this interview, the Texas-born Gomez speaks about her dreams for the future, her two upcoming movies, and the hardest thing about being famous.

“Wizards of Waverly Place” series finale airs Friday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. on the Disney Channel.

What are your professional dreams?

I am in a transition period right now, so I just want to make great movies and great music and have fun. I want to focus on that and on myself.

What is the best and hardest part of being famous?

The best thing is that you can use it for things you love. For me, it was my music, which I was able to do, and I am continuing to do. I got to do my clothing line, my fragrance and all my UNICEF and charity work. The downside is it gets a little invasive and superficial sometimes and you get caught up in your own world and it is not healthy.

What’s on your iPod that would surprise people?

I have a lot of rap. I like country. I like older stuff like ’50s stuff.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be shooting two movies in the beginning of next year. One will be called “Spring Breakers” and the other “Hot Mess.“ They’re both different: The first one is this really fun, independent, dark movie, and the second one is a comedy and it’s fun. It’s about these four girls. It’ll be cool. And then I’ll be working on my fourth album.

You have a Spanish CD. How is the response to that?

We only released two singles. They are doing well. I am not fluent [in Spanish] so it is nice to be able to communicate that part of me to the parts of South America and the places that I love and where my background is.

What’s the best thing that you got out of your “Wizards” experience?

I learned a lot. Whenever people ask me that, even if it’s not in an interview, I always say my cast and my crew just taught me so much! I thank David Henrie (he plays Justin Russo) and Jake T. Austin (he plays Max Russo], especially David, for challenging me as an actress because he opened me up and made me better, so I learned a lot from the people.

“Wizards” fans are very passionate. What is the nicest thing they have said to you?

Everything. I will read my Twitter feed and it is this overwhelmingness of love. They all interpret my music differently, they all interpret the show differently, and they have their own visions.

If you could have a power in real life, what would it be?

I wouldn’t do anything because me with magic is awful! Do you see me on our show? Do you see that it never works on the show, so I don’t know how we would do it in real life.

Did you take any mementos from the show?

The producers gave us this really cool glass case with a little engraving with each of our wands in it that we’ve used for four years. It is in my mom’s office.

What are you going to miss most about your cast mates?

Honestly, the fighting with David. I am, because it was the best. Whenever I read scripts or read anything and there is bickering, I’ve never done it as well as when I did it with David — on the show and in real life. It was good and it was fun!

What advice would you give to upcoming Disney stars?

Be nice to each other. It is hard. I love being able to say I worked on a show where I loved everybody. I would never take back anything. I love that. Unfortunately, you hear people say, “I couldn’t work on this show because it is hard, “or “I couldn’t work with this person.” So when they say, “It must have been hard to work on a show for five years,” no, it wasn’t. I loved everybody.

What was your favorite episode?

I never had a favorite episode. I had a favorite season: season three, because we had our groove, we had our thing and it wasn’t the end. I really enjoyed that season.

Looking back, if you could give yourself advice in the beginning, what would you say?

I don’t know. I didn’t give myself good advice then and I probably wouldn’t give myself good advice now. When I watch episodes, I think about what we were doing during that time. I never think about the episodes. I always say, “I was doing this that day.”

Want to explore more? Check out Paulette’s blog, The Hollywood Know!