Selena Gomez started her career on "Barney & Friends" in 2002 and gained fame on Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place." She released her first song, a cover of "Cruella de Vil," in 2008. Since then, she has achieved numerous No. 1 albums and top-10 singles on the Billboard charts.
Despite her impressive career and success on a popular Disney Channel sitcom, Selena Gomez still has trouble convincing casting directors to give her a shot, as she reveals she hides her identity sometimes to audition for roles.
Selena Gomez says she hides her identity when auditioning for roles.
In a revealing interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Selena Gomez discussed the challenges she faces in her acting career. She candidly shared that, to secure auditions, she sometimes has to hide her identity because casting directors often dismiss her without even considering her talent. In other instances, she learns that they are looking for lesser-known actor, only to see them ultimately cast someone notable.
“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. “Because sometimes even them just hearing that I want to audition, they’ll be like, ‘No, that’s not going to match for what we’re doing.’ Or it’s, ‘We’re going to hire people that nobody knows,’ and then they hire, like, Austin Butler, and I’m like, ‘Cool.’”
The Texas-born star added: “I’ll sometimes send in a tape when they don’t know it’s me, or if it’s in person, my managers will just say, ‘oh, we have a client that’ll have a read’, and most of the time, they’ll go, ‘OK’.
“And it worked on one of the movies I did, because they looked at me as I walked in and I thought I’d lost it immediately because they went, ‘ooohh’, I was like, no, no, no, no, just let me read’.
“It was Fundamentals Of Caring, a cute little movie, and it worked, I got it. You kind of have to do the dance.”
Selena Gomez says she considered quitting music to focus on acting.
On an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, Gomez revealed she never intended to become a singer and as she grows older, she would prefer to eventually focus on her acting career instead.
“I wanted to be an actress, I never really intended on being a singer full-time but apparently that hobby turned into something else,” Gomez said.
“I don’t think I’m the best singer but I do know how to tell stories and I love being able to make songs.”
Gomez credits Disney Channel for transforming her into a pop star, noting that after singing the theme song to Wizards Of Waverly Place, Disney asked her if she would record an album.
“They know how to package someone and make it a whole triple threat thing."