Speaker 1: Before there was Selena Gomez Lac or Selena the badass
Speaker 1: business lady or Selena the kick ass producer.
Speaker 2: She was this a young girl from Texas that already
Speaker 2: knew what she wanted to be by the age of six.
Speaker 1: Inspired by her mother's short time on stage, Selena had
Speaker 1: wanted to dazzle many the same way, but on.
Speaker 2: A much much larger scale.
Speaker 1: Between working jobs at david Busters and Starbucks.
Speaker 2: Or digging through their car for enough change to have
Speaker 2: dinner that night.
Speaker 1: Selena's mom would perform at her community theater production.
Speaker 2: And she'd often bring Selena along.
Speaker 1: One day, little Selena turned to her mom and said, Mom,
Speaker 1: I want to do what you want to do, and
Speaker 1: that she.
Speaker 2: Would come with us as we explore the other wildly
Speaker 2: successful site of Selena's fame, her evolution as an actress.
Speaker 3: I'm your host Liliana Ooscaz.
Speaker 2: And I'm Joseph Carrio and This is Becoming an Icon.
Speaker 1: A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on
Speaker 1: how today's most famous latinv stars have shaped pop culture
Speaker 1: and given the world some extra level.
Speaker 3: Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2: Because we are going in the only way we know how.
Speaker 3: With whenas with us, buenasriesas.
Speaker 1: And a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest
Speaker 1: achievements on our journey to find out what makes them
Speaker 1: so iconic.
Speaker 3: Joseph, we know that you love a Selena song.
Speaker 1: You have multiple playlists that inspire you on the daily
Speaker 1: led by Selena. But how much of Selena's acting career
Speaker 1: are you familiar with?
Speaker 2: Dude? You are going to be shocked because I am
Speaker 2: not very, very, very familiar with Selena's acting career because
Speaker 2: I wasn't introduced to Selena like that, so her acting
Speaker 2: and me is.
Speaker 3: Rare, very very good plug there.
Speaker 1: So, have you ever seen an episode of Wizards of
Speaker 1: Waverley Place?
Speaker 2: I have, I have, but I was not watching the show.
Speaker 2: I was a little older, so it.
Speaker 3: Wasn't you were like you had aged at all?
Speaker 2: Was in my twenties Okay, let's be clear. No, but
Speaker 2: I was a little bit older, so it's not something
Speaker 2: that I was into.
Speaker 1: I think that's so funny that you said you were
Speaker 1: in your twenties. Bitch, you are such a liar. You
Speaker 1: are in your thirty and no, you were not watching Disney.
Speaker 1: I am with you right there. I feel like for me.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of all of the different Disney
Speaker 1: stuff that I was happening that people were like high
Speaker 1: school musical Wizards of Waverley Place, Hannah, Montana. None of
Speaker 1: that is of our generation. Would I say Disney was
Speaker 1: not ever present in the way that it was when
Speaker 1: you and I were growing up, Like I always thought
Speaker 1: of Disney just as like the Disney franchise, cartoons and movies.
Speaker 1: I never thought of it as sitcoms and shows in
Speaker 1: the way that this younger generation views Disney like that
Speaker 1: was it for me.
Speaker 3: It was like, oh, the.
Speaker 1: Lion King, that's legit, Okay, so beyond Disney obviously she
Speaker 1: started there. But were you a Selena movie fan or
Speaker 1: are you really just connected to.
Speaker 3: Her through the music?
Speaker 2: Just the music? Really?
Speaker 3: I love that. So that gives us.
Speaker 1: A really interesting place to work from for this episode,
Speaker 1: because I think what people don't realize is that she's
Speaker 1: been so successful in both and Selena's story proves that
Speaker 1: with the right support and a lot of hard work,
Speaker 1: you can really accomplish anything.
Speaker 2: Selena was straightforward with her mom. She said I want
Speaker 2: to do this, and her mom listened.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine being so self assured about your life
Speaker 1: choices at the age of.
Speaker 2: Honest to big G, I can't. She saw the future
Speaker 2: and went for it.
Speaker 1: It was two thousand and two when our mother drove
Speaker 1: her to an audition for Barney and Friends.
Speaker 2: At this point, she was seven and her parents had
Speaker 2: already been separated for two years.
Speaker 1: She booked the show and Barney provided an escape she
Speaker 1: didn't know she needed.
Speaker 3: She didn't have to face real life.
Speaker 2: Plus, you could never go on with Crafty on set
Speaker 2: as a kid unlimited snacks. I mean kind of like
Speaker 2: how I want to be right now? Are you sure
Speaker 2: we can't negotiate that snack budget.
Speaker 3: We don't even have a water budget.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're definitely not getting Crafty becoming an icon. While
Speaker 1: on side of Barney, she got to work alongside Demi Lovado,
Speaker 1: playing the character of Gianna for two seasons.
Speaker 2: Their little friendship meet Cute was in fact cute. Okay.
Speaker 1: So there was about fifteen hundred kids at that very
Speaker 1: first open audition for the show, and Demi had actually
Speaker 1: been standing in line and right in front of cell.
Speaker 2: By the end of it, only seven kids made the cut,
Speaker 2: including of course Demi and Selena.
Speaker 1: They didn't know the other had gotten picked until they
Speaker 1: saw each other on the first day of filming.
Speaker 2: They both shared that during their I Love You, You Love
Speaker 2: Me days they were super close.
Speaker 1: But by the age of ten, Selena had aged out
Speaker 1: of Barney.
Speaker 2: Okay, wait, we all know Selena got her start on Barney,
Speaker 2: but I kind of feel like, didn't you get your
Speaker 2: start on Barney?
Speaker 3: That is very generous to you.
Speaker 1: No, I was never cast on Barney, but I was
Speaker 1: in the mix, as I would describe it. So I
Speaker 1: was enrolled in like an acting workshop in Dallas, which
Speaker 1: is where Barney was filmed. And I remember being in
Speaker 1: this class and it was like a mixed age class,
Speaker 1: so it was like kids of all ages. And there
Speaker 1: were flyers posted about the Barney auditions at my school.
Speaker 1: And you know who else was enrolled in this particular workshop.
Speaker 3: Tell me Barney himself.
Speaker 2: Wait, like Barney the Purple Dino. Yeah, like the actor
Speaker 2: inside of there.
Speaker 1: Like, yes, David Joyner, the actual actor in Barney was
Speaker 1: taking classes here and that got posted at my school.
Speaker 1: And so, no, I did not audition for Barney. I
Speaker 1: was very close. I think I was a little bit
Speaker 1: too old to actually audition, But yeah, Selena and I
Speaker 1: could have been on the same show to get.
Speaker 2: Dudude one degree, one degree. We're so close now.
Speaker 1: Despite all of the really kind of shitty things that
Speaker 1: have come to life about the show, it did provide
Speaker 1: Selena the escapism she needed, and as quickly as it came,
Speaker 1: it was taken.
Speaker 2: Away and she was desperate to get it back.
Speaker 1: Post Barney, Selena spent the next five years flying back
Speaker 1: and forth between Texas and LA trying to make it.
Speaker 2: She lived in a one bedroom part in downtown Los
Speaker 2: Angeles with Demi Lovado and her family.
Speaker 1: During her time in LA, she booked a number of
Speaker 1: projects like Spy Kids, three D, Gameover, she.
Speaker 2: Was on an episode of the Sweet Life of Zach.
Speaker 1: And Cody, and she even managed to snag a recurring
Speaker 1: role on Hannah Montana opposite Miley Cyrus.
Speaker 2: In the grand scheme of things, it was going well,
Speaker 2: but all the back and forth became too much and
Speaker 2: too costly, especially when all she had to her name
Speaker 2: was a Disney perdian.
Speaker 1: Look at you with all the industry lingo per diem for.
Speaker 2: Those who don't know, that basically means an allowance.
Speaker 1: Well, her hard work finally paid off when Selena booked
Speaker 1: the lead role of Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverley Place,
Speaker 1: a show following a family of wizards who own a
Speaker 1: restaurant in New York City.
Speaker 2: Soon it was Audio Sluonsar State and Hello La laland.
Speaker 3: This time permanently.
Speaker 1: Selena and her mother relocated to sunny California, where she
Speaker 1: would have an entire show.
Speaker 2: To carry, and that quickly made her a teen idol.
Speaker 1: That probably seems like a dream come true for any teen,
Speaker 1: and it was until the bubble burst.
Speaker 2: Papa Rozzi started showing up on set.
Speaker 1: And let's be honest, grown men with cameras in your
Speaker 1: face can be overwhelming, no matter what age.
Speaker 2: I mean.
Speaker 3: Just look at Ben Affleck. He is always bothered.
Speaker 2: But at fifteen, I mean, it's a lot.
Speaker 1: And remember this fame wasn't gradual for Selena. These were
Speaker 1: the Disney days. She was constantly promoting the show. She
Speaker 1: had no semblance of a normal teen life. Her entire
Speaker 1: life was Disney.
Speaker 2: Her very self became a product, her face, her voice,
Speaker 2: her likeness, her private life.
Speaker 1: She says, that was my job, in a way, to
Speaker 1: be perfect. You're considered to figure. You kids look up
Speaker 1: to and they take that seriously there, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: no kidding right, like Disney owns you forever.
Speaker 2: But despite being under a microscope, she held her own
Speaker 2: and did her job.
Speaker 1: The show was a wild success, receiving numerous accolades, including
Speaker 1: an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program, and.
Speaker 2: The critics loved everything Selena brought to the character. Alex
Speaker 2: was pure snark and we wanted more.
Speaker 1: The audience loved everything about Selena and her character, the clothes,
Speaker 1: the style, even her mannerisms on the show.
Speaker 2: The attention she received was a why old, but nothing
Speaker 2: compared to what was next when she joined the cast
Speaker 2: of Another Cinderella Story. It was two thousand and eight.
Speaker 1: Britney Spears was making her comeback with Circus. Miley Cyrus
Speaker 1: was turning heads and causing controversy with a Vanity Fair
Speaker 1: shoot that left her more exposed than people were used to, and.
Speaker 2: High School Musical was taking on the silver screen with
Speaker 2: their third film.
Speaker 1: With Selena's idols and colleagues making moves, it was time
Speaker 1: for her to do the same.
Speaker 3: She stepped away from the.
Speaker 1: Disney sitcoms for just a second to give teen Musicals
Speaker 1: a shot. Another Cinderella Story was a Cinderella retelling in
Speaker 1: a more modern setting.
Speaker 2: It starts Selena Gomez, Drew Seeley and Jane Lynch, and
Speaker 2: it was a sequel to a Cinderella story from two
Speaker 2: thousand and four.
Speaker 1: The first film had been a huge success with our
Speaker 1: Girl Hilarya.
Speaker 2: So Selena had big shoes to fill or should I
Speaker 2: stay shoe EO, don't don't lobe.
Speaker 1: The film became a fan favorite, but amongst critics, no
Speaker 1: one could get over the ten year age gap between
Speaker 1: Selena and Drew, her love interest in the film.
Speaker 2: Ten years better. Okay, go Sade, this isn't the fifties.
Speaker 3: I know, I know.
Speaker 1: It's actually a little hard to watch him not gonna
Speaker 1: lie and she was quickly with right back to the
Speaker 1: Disney channel after this.
Speaker 3: That's for But.
Speaker 2: Disney, as we know by now, was making sure that
Speaker 2: they could make the most out of Selena's rising theme.
Speaker 1: She started a crossover episode with other shows on the
Speaker 1: network like The Sweet Life on Deck and Sonny with
Speaker 1: a Chance for the Sweet Life on Deck. It was
Speaker 1: an extra special crossover episode called Wizard on Deck with
Speaker 1: Hannah mo Onza. Now when I say those titles, you're
Speaker 1: probably like, oh, I don't even know what those shows are,
Speaker 1: but let me just explain to you the like fucking
Speaker 1: Schmorgesborg of Disney characters that were on the show. So,
Speaker 1: The Sweet Life on Deck starred the Sprouse twin brothers,
Speaker 1: Cole and Dylan, right. Then you had Miley Cyrus as
Speaker 1: Hannah Montana.
Speaker 3: Then you had.
Speaker 1: Selena Gomez as Alex from Wizards of Waverley Place. All
Speaker 1: of these people came together on a boat like what
Speaker 1: is like?
Speaker 3: What is this?
Speaker 1: It had three different logos in the title. I don't
Speaker 1: even know who pitched this, but they are a gene yes.
Speaker 2: So basically, the Disney channel was doing crossovers before they
Speaker 2: were cool exactly.
Speaker 1: And while she was on Sunny with a Chance, she
Speaker 1: was reunited with Demi Lovado and their undeniable chemistry got
Speaker 1: the exacts at Disney thinking.
Speaker 2: Why don't they start in a movie together.
Speaker 1: Demi and Selena had known each other since they were kids.
Speaker 2: They grew up together in and out.
Speaker 1: Of the business, and now they were working together on
Speaker 1: this same network.
Speaker 2: It only felt right that they would work on a
Speaker 2: project together.
Speaker 1: Right exactly, And in two thousand and nine they start
Speaker 1: alongside each other in the Disney Channel original film, Princess
Speaker 1: Protection Program.
Speaker 2: It was the first Disney Channel original movie to be
Speaker 2: shot in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1: Guys, if you thought The Sweet Life on Deck with
Speaker 1: Selena and Miley and all the Disney child actors was wild,
Speaker 1: this film is truly wild. So it takes place in Louisiana,
Speaker 1: where Selena's character Carter lives with her dad.
Speaker 2: Her dad saves Demi Levado's character Princess Rosalinda from a
Speaker 2: military coup.
Speaker 1: Rosalina then flees her small country and has to live
Speaker 1: in hiding with Carter and her dad. But later on
Speaker 1: in the movie, the popular girl in the school blows
Speaker 1: Rosie's cover and basically helps the general that almost killed
Speaker 1: the princess find her just so she can be homecoming.
Speaker 2: Am I just ty? Or is that really the plaid?
Speaker 3: Oh no, somebody wrote that. By the way, that's not all.
Speaker 1: They also had a royal dress designer named mister.
Speaker 2: Mister Now one hundred percent, I know you're just making
Speaker 2: this up.
Speaker 1: I'm not, but this is the way of Disney Channel films,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't matter whether you or I liked it.
Speaker 3: Viewers loved it.
Speaker 1: And with all of these Disney shows, once you start watching,
Speaker 1: you kind of just get sucked in facts.
Speaker 2: And after that, Disney could not get enough of la.
Speaker 1: The Wizards of Waverley Place movie was also filmed there,
Speaker 1: and so we're both teen beach movies.
Speaker 2: If Princess Protection Program was considered a big hit, Wizards
Speaker 2: of Waverley Place movie surpassed it big time.
Speaker 1: Do you love that they're so lazy that they just
Speaker 1: add movie to the end of the show title. They
Speaker 1: didn't even bother to come up with like a catchy
Speaker 1: title like Wizards of Waverley Place, la islato. They were
Speaker 1: just like, no, y'all, it's just Wizards of Waverley Place movie.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 2: Girl. Money is time, Money is timeh.
Speaker 1: So Wizards of Waverly Place Movie premiered in August and
Speaker 1: became Cable's number one scripted telecast of that entire year,
Speaker 1: Like did it do bigger numbers than current day succession?
Speaker 3: Like I need to know that?
Speaker 2: Well? Eleven point four million viewers?
Speaker 3: What the fuck?
Speaker 1: It won the series its second consecutive Emmy for Outstanding
Speaker 1: Children's Program at the sixty second Primetime Emmy Awards.
Speaker 2: With all these Disney movies doing so well, maybe it's
Speaker 2: time to make lead to bigger.
Speaker 3: Projects, and there were plenty for her.
Speaker 1: There was Ramona and Bezas alongside Joey King. Then you
Speaker 1: had Money Carlo, with Leyton Measter and Katie Cassidy.
Speaker 2: Hmmm, I don't know any of these movies.
Speaker 1: Well, dear, unlike you, most people watching these were you know,
Speaker 1: nich Hoven's Hoven.
Speaker 2: He knew you were going to say that, bitch.
Speaker 1: But that didn't mean Selena didn't take it seriously. Our girls,
Speaker 1: Selena went all in. She learned how to play polo,
Speaker 1: She had a dialect coach. She was committed to these roles.
Speaker 2: What film was she doing where she needed all that money?
Speaker 3: Carlo?
Speaker 2: Anyways, that year, Wizards of Waverley Place officially ended its
Speaker 2: run on the Disney Channel after four seasons, which meant
Speaker 2: Homeworld was out of a job.
Speaker 3: Okay, not exactly.
Speaker 1: She was cast in Hotel Transylvania as Mavis opposite Adam Sandler.
Speaker 1: That film was a commercial success, making over three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty eight million dollars worldwide.
Speaker 2: But like me, Selena was getting older and all these
Speaker 2: kid roles just weren't cutting it anymore.
Speaker 1: While they did feel like career accelerators. Selena wanted more
Speaker 1: from her films. She wanted to challenge.
Speaker 2: She needed something stronger to stay relevant in k A
Speaker 2: twenty four and spring Break. If you don't know what
Speaker 2: A twenty four is, you're probably not a film nerd
Speaker 2: like my co hosts.
Speaker 1: By the way, I take that as a compliment, so
Speaker 1: thank you. I will gracefully accept the title film nerd.
Speaker 1: But people adamantly obsessed with spring Breakers fall at the
Speaker 1: feet of this indie.
Speaker 3: Production and distribution company.
Speaker 1: Now, they're best known for shows like Euphoria with Zende,
Speaker 1: So like, do you get the drift? Like, do you
Speaker 1: understand what they're like?
Speaker 2: God stop, Yes, when you said Euphoria, the visuals hit
Speaker 2: me like it is indy, it's raw, it's real.
Speaker 3: Yes, and it doesn't stop there.
Speaker 1: They're also responsible for twenty twenty three Best Picture winner
Speaker 1: at the Oscars. Everything everywhere, all at once, So they're
Speaker 1: on another level, like on another level creatively artistically, like
Speaker 1: they're amazed. But back in twenty twelve, right over a
Speaker 1: decade ago, they were kind of the new kids on
Speaker 1: the block. When they released their second film, spring Breakers,
Speaker 1: this film officially put them on the map.
Speaker 2: Also, I just want to say. You will take any
Speaker 2: chance to say new kids on the block, won't you?
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: I am NKOTB four life.
Speaker 3: That's what my tattoo says.
Speaker 2: Well, anyways, this gave Selena a new spin on her image,
Speaker 2: and I vividly remember that bikini photoshoot.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 1: The one thing you remember about this era is the
Speaker 1: bikini photo shoot, and it's actually very central to the
Speaker 1: movie because they literally are in their bikinis the whole time.
Speaker 1: So if you haven't seen spring Breakers, here's a quick synopsis.
Speaker 1: The film follows a group of college girls that rob
Speaker 1: a fast food joint for cash to fund their spring break.
Speaker 1: So we got to talk about the film because it's
Speaker 1: directed by Harmony Korin, so he is known for making
Speaker 1: I mean, oh god, kids, okay, don't and gummo that
Speaker 1: really dive into very like taboo type topics. I want
Speaker 1: to call it counterculture is probably the best way to
Speaker 1: sum it up. So if there was a film that
Speaker 1: was going to change the way the world saw Selena,
Speaker 1: it was going to be at the hands of Harmony,
Speaker 1: like no question about it. And this was, let's just say,
Speaker 1: a very mature role for Selena. Like for her to
Speaker 1: go from Alex in Wizards of Place to playing this
Speaker 1: role in the film. And I will say, like, Selena
Speaker 1: is not in so many of like more kind of
Speaker 1: shocking scenes in spring Breakers. But that being said, like
Speaker 1: the entire again, it's a dark movie. And KRN referred
Speaker 1: to this film as beach noir and just for you
Speaker 1: guys to get an idea of who was in this film,
Speaker 1: of course Selena was in it, but you also had
Speaker 1: Vanessa Hudgens, another Disney girly. Originally it was supposed to
Speaker 1: be Emma Roberts, but she ended up dropping out because
Speaker 1: of how dark the film was, so she was replaced
Speaker 1: with Ashley Benson. So you had four very young women
Speaker 1: tackling i would say, a very sexually driven style of film.
Speaker 1: And so many people really had issues with women like
Speaker 1: Selena and Vanessa doing this film, and people came for
Speaker 1: her heart, like why would you do this? Why would
Speaker 1: you do this to my child? It's not Selena's job
Speaker 1: to parent for you.
Speaker 2: It is just doing her job exactly.
Speaker 1: And spring Breakers, as you can probably tell, has become
Speaker 1: a cult classic since its release, and that.
Speaker 2: Cult status meant Selena could play in the big leagues.
Speaker 1: She began booking roles with Hollywood heavyweights like Ethan Hawk,
Speaker 1: but when those movies didn't perform as well as Spring Breakers,
Speaker 1: Selena well, she went back to Disney, and while Wizards
Speaker 1: was done, Selena went back to Disney Channel for a
Speaker 1: special called The Wizard's Return Alex Versus Alex, where, yes,
Speaker 1: you guessed it, Alex has to fight herself hold on.
Speaker 2: The Wizards Return Alex Versus Alex.
Speaker 4: You're absolutely right with this writing, Like, you guys have
Speaker 4: so much money, and you know, I wonder if they
Speaker 4: keep it like this because it's just so simple, you know,
Speaker 4: like saying the Wizard's Return. You know what I understand,
Speaker 4: The Wizards have returned. The positive side of her return
Speaker 4: though she both started in it and was one of
Speaker 4: the executive producers, but.
Speaker 1: Her return to the Channel was a one time thing
Speaker 1: because immediately after she was off to act and behaving badly.
Speaker 2: Honestly, what the f is with these titles?
Speaker 3: This is why there's a writer's strike done. The writers
Speaker 3: are like, we've had enough.
Speaker 1: Y'all keep canceling our good shows, you keep picking bad titles.
Speaker 3: These studio executives don't know what the fuck they're doing.
Speaker 3: Can we just get the writers back? Can y'all give
Speaker 3: them what they deserve?
Speaker 1: Like, can we support these people that write brilliant screenplays?
Speaker 3: Just get the fucking writers backus? And it was around.
Speaker 1: This time she had to take a break from her
Speaker 1: career to go to rehab. While she was away, people
Speaker 1: really felt her absence. When she came back, the Teen
Speaker 1: Choice Awards in twenty fourteen awarded her the Ultimate Choice
Speaker 1: Award for her contributions to the entertainment industry.
Speaker 2: Well, this was confirmation that her career wouldn't take a
Speaker 2: hit from the tableaus. Things were beginning to shift.
Speaker 1: In April, Selena fired her mother and stepfather, Brian Tefey,
Speaker 1: as her managers, only to sign with one of the
Speaker 1: biggest agencies in the world WM.
Speaker 2: That opened up a lot of roles that kept Selena
Speaker 2: booked and busy, but none of these movies made a
Speaker 2: significant difference in her career.
Speaker 1: She made the Hotel Transylvania movies and they performed well,
Speaker 1: but let's be honest, they weren't revolutionary.
Speaker 2: Selena also got to work with vampire Paul Rudd.
Speaker 3: Ugh wait he was in twilte what oh?
Speaker 2: He literally does not age.
Speaker 3: That's true.
Speaker 1: By the way, Selena needs to hire Paul Rudd to
Speaker 1: do rare beauty skin.
Speaker 2: No stop making her richer, please, She's fine.
Speaker 1: Okay, back to Selena, since this is not becoming an
Speaker 1: icon Paul Rudd.
Speaker 2: All of it was fun and easy, but Selena reached
Speaker 2: a point where she wanted her work to mean something.
Speaker 1: More, especially after she opened up about her journey with
Speaker 1: lupus in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: She was in and out of treatment centers and it
Speaker 2: was a lot emotionally, mentally, physically.
Speaker 1: Singing had given her an outlet to deal with all
Speaker 1: of these emotions. But she loved acting. She loved the industry.
Speaker 1: She loved show business.
Speaker 2: She wanted to be involved with a project that she
Speaker 2: could pour her experience and vulnerability into.
Speaker 1: She had loved producing her Wizard Special. It had been
Speaker 1: great practice, and it gave her an idea, maybe thirteen ideas,
Speaker 1: more like thirteen Reasons.
Speaker 2: Selena had been trying to adapt Thirteen Reasons Why for years.
Speaker 1: The young adult novel by Jay Asher was published in
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. Selena's mom had read the book
Speaker 1: while she was still managing her daughter and thought it
Speaker 1: would be a great idea for them to adapt it.
Speaker 2: Time passed while the project tried to get on its feed,
Speaker 2: and Selena had aged out of the role of the
Speaker 2: main character, Hannah Baker, but that didn't mean that she
Speaker 2: had to step back from the project altogether.
Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, the production finally got a green light
Speaker 1: at Netflix. Selena would serve as executive producer alongside her mom.
Speaker 1: It premiered in March twenty seventeen and became a milestone
Speaker 1: in Selena's career, with the series lasting four seasons. At
Speaker 1: the time, this show was something to talk about.
Speaker 3: Good press, bad press, It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: I just remember how much attention this brought to a Netflix,
Speaker 1: right this is twenty seventeen, and also to suicide in
Speaker 1: teens and mental health, and for that Selena should be
Speaker 1: given like all of the accolades.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say that, it's just like
Speaker 2: she's bringing mental health stuff forward. Do you think it
Speaker 2: was the interests content?
Speaker 1: I think it shined a light on it, and when
Speaker 1: people aren't ready to see what is in that light,
Speaker 1: then they say that you're glamorizing it. But this was happening,
Speaker 1: This was real, and when you talk to teens that
Speaker 1: were watching the show, like it's like euphoria. It's an
Speaker 1: extreme and it's uncomfortable to watch it. But like, this
Speaker 1: isn't coming out of nowhere. Like she said, there's going
Speaker 1: to be backlash no matter what, because this isn't an
Speaker 1: easy subject to talk about. People don't want to see this,
Speaker 1: they don't want to talk about it. You're bringing attention
Speaker 1: to something that needed to be spoken about.
Speaker 2: It's just really interesting, like the roles that she's played
Speaker 2: and then something like thirteen Reasons Why. It's a very
Speaker 2: o no im And.
Speaker 1: I think what's interesting for her is, you know, repositioning
Speaker 1: her as an executive producer on this project instead of
Speaker 1: having her act in the project was really smart because
Speaker 1: she came up through Disney, like she saw these kids,
Speaker 1: She knew who her audience was, and her audience that
Speaker 1: watched her on Wizards of Waverley Place became the audience
Speaker 1: that was in high school at the time that Thirteen
Speaker 1: Reasons Why hit Netflix, So she wanted to give them
Speaker 1: something to say, hey, I see you people suffer and
Speaker 1: it's not okay to be cruel. There's no doubt why
Speaker 1: this show was such a critical success and why thirteen
Speaker 1: Reasons Why was the most tweeted about show of twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: and You Guys was also the most watched original streaming
Speaker 1: series of twenty eighteen.
Speaker 3: She was quietly killing the game.
Speaker 1: Like to have the most watched streaming series of the year.
Speaker 1: That's fucking major. And as an executive producer like this
Speaker 1: girl knows what she's doing, Like, do not undervalue or
Speaker 1: discredit Selena.
Speaker 2: Ever.
Speaker 1: Ever, Selena was approached about a project called Living Undocumented
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. After seeing early footage for the Netflix docuseries.
Speaker 1: She was more than convinced. Okay, guys, bear with me
Speaker 1: to read something very long. She wrote an op ed
Speaker 1: for Time, and she shared her family's immigration story and
Speaker 1: why she was inspired to make this particular documentary.
Speaker 3: It's long, so I'm ready.
Speaker 2: I'm ready for it. Give it to me, coming her
Speaker 2: break down, let me get my not chock.
Speaker 3: And most importantly, listen. Here's what she wrote.
Speaker 1: In the nineteen seventies, my aunt crossed the border from
Speaker 1: Mexico to the United States hidden in the back of
Speaker 1: a truck. My grandparents followed when my father was born
Speaker 1: in Texas. Soon after, in nineteen ninety two, I was
Speaker 1: born a US citizen. Thanks to their bravery and sacrifice.
Speaker 3: Over the past.
Speaker 1: Four decades, members of my family have worked hard to
Speaker 1: gain United States citizenship. Undocumented immigration is an issue I
Speaker 1: think about every day, and I never forget how blessed
Speaker 1: I am to have been born in this country thanks
Speaker 1: to my family and the grace of circumstance.
Speaker 3: But when I read the news headlines.
Speaker 1: Or see debates about immigration rage on social media, I
Speaker 1: feel afraid for those in similar city situations.
Speaker 3: I feel afraid from my country.
Speaker 2: She wanted to give a face to the issue as
Speaker 2: many were facing because of immigration policy. It proved that
Speaker 2: she was more than just headlines. In her words, it's
Speaker 2: a human issue that affects real people.
Speaker 1: Her hit series for Netflix kept her busy, So let's
Speaker 1: fast forward to twenty twenty. Although, Joseph, that could be
Speaker 1: traumatic for you because those were our days of getting
Speaker 1: up at four thirty in the morning for E news.
Speaker 2: Do we have to go back there? I also don't
Speaker 2: want to go back to COVID.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, But with the pandemic, Selena, like
Speaker 1: the rest of the world, took a step back to breathe,
Speaker 1: and she brought her work home like all.
Speaker 2: Of us actually worked from home. But how is that
Speaker 2: taking a step back to breathe? Tell me how I'm
Speaker 2: supposed to breathe with no air. She's literally the.
Speaker 3: Hustler, always on that hustle.
Speaker 1: While she was home, she hosted and executive produced her
Speaker 1: own cooking show on HBO Max called Selena and Chef Appreciate.
Speaker 2: The Grind, putting us all in our place, I mean,
Speaker 2: making us look lazy RISBC.
Speaker 1: The show was inspired by Selena's own experiences trying to
Speaker 1: cook for herself during quarantine.
Speaker 2: Same it was marketed as unrehearsed, unfiltered, unscripted, and if
Speaker 2: all that wasn't enough, Selena added something else to her plate,
Speaker 2: becoming a whole ass business woman.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty, in the middle of a global pandemic,
Speaker 1: Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty, inspired by her twenty twenty
Speaker 1: album Rare.
Speaker 2: Oh my God, are you obsessed with the liquid blush?
Speaker 2: I have not encountered texture like that when you touch
Speaker 2: it and play with it. If you guys don't know,
Speaker 2: it is really good quality products.
Speaker 1: Rarely you will get a beauty brand that crosses into
Speaker 1: consumer and artist, meaning consumers enjoy using it as much
Speaker 1: as artists enjoy using it. There's not a lot of them,
Speaker 1: but this is one of them. Why Joseph, Why for me?
Speaker 2: I think that she really believes in makeup as opposed
Speaker 2: to like another starlet creating a beauty brand. Like she
Speaker 2: is this person that really invested and was like thinking
Speaker 2: about beauty. She is the type of person that thought
Speaker 2: about this brand as well, like it was part of
Speaker 2: it the image of it. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3: It makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1: And when she was interviewed about why she wanted to
Speaker 1: branch out into the industry, she said, this, My main
Speaker 1: purpose when I started Rare Beauty was to break down
Speaker 1: the unrealistic standards of beauty we see in society today.
Speaker 3: There's so much pressure on us to be perfect.
Speaker 1: I decided to create Rare Beauty to challenge the conversations
Speaker 1: around beauty. I'm going to be very honest here to
Speaker 1: say that I generally will not buy a beauty brand
Speaker 1: that is founded by a celestri same because I believe
Speaker 1: in the artistry of makeup. I believe in the Pat
Speaker 1: McGraths of the world, the Kevin o'kwan's.
Speaker 2: You know. When she came out with this line, I
Speaker 2: was like, Oh, I want to go see it, which
Speaker 2: is very funny because when other people have come out
Speaker 2: with stuff, I'm always like I don't want it, and
Speaker 2: I get sent everything everything. I'm like, I don't want it,
Speaker 2: I'm not interested. I just get this stuff. But with
Speaker 2: Seleaner where beauty please send us stuff, send you my address.
Speaker 1: Send all of the highlighters, all of the plushes, and
Speaker 1: I will do the all of it and please the concealers.
Speaker 3: Those are my favorite concealers.
Speaker 2: Like I was very curious because I don't think that
Speaker 2: Selena would have created something that was not well thought out.
Speaker 2: I don't fucking know her, but I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: this is going to be a good product. I thought that,
Speaker 2: and you know what it fucking is.
Speaker 1: It is And within its first year of launching, Rare
Speaker 1: generated sixty million dollars in revenue.
Speaker 3: And when you have conversations.
Speaker 1: In our world, in the beauty fashion style world about makeup,
Speaker 1: two brands that always get put in the same category
Speaker 1: of excellence are Rare Beauty and Fenigue.
Speaker 2: Like a lure stamped classified best selling. They are real
Speaker 2: brands that are making a difference with their imagery, with
Speaker 2: what they stand for with their inclusivity.
Speaker 1: Like its next level and if you guys have not
Speaker 1: tried rare beauty, this is hashtag not sponsored.
Speaker 2: By the way, but we're open to it.
Speaker 3: We're open to it.
Speaker 2: So Selena made a name for herself as an actress, She.
Speaker 1: Made a name for herself as a singer in English
Speaker 1: and in Spanish.
Speaker 2: My bilingual queen.
Speaker 1: Then she was a bomb ass executive producer and a
Speaker 1: beauty mogul.
Speaker 2: What comes next.
Speaker 3: The best of them all?
Speaker 1: Selena signed on to star and executive produce Get It Girl,
Speaker 1: the Hulu mystery comedy Only Murders in the Building, along
Speaker 1: with Steve Martin and Martin short.
Speaker 2: It is a recipe for success for the little Chef.
Speaker 1: The role mark Selena's return to television in a role
Speaker 1: as a series regular.
Speaker 2: Since Wizards and History repeats itself, just like Wizards was
Speaker 2: for the Disney Channel, it was a huge hit for
Speaker 2: the streamer.
Speaker 1: It was the most watched comedy premiere in Hulu history.
Speaker 1: The critics love it, and it's gone on to receive
Speaker 1: numerous nominations and awards.
Speaker 2: This most recent role forced her to take a look
Speaker 2: back on all her previous projects. She realized that signing
Speaker 2: her life away to Disney in those early days really
Speaker 2: affected how she viewed herself.
Speaker 1: Finally being able to play a character that matched her
Speaker 1: age in real life made her fully reflect on how
Speaker 1: far she's come.
Speaker 2: It was almost like she's finally a loud herself to
Speaker 2: feel comfortable where she was in her life. At the
Speaker 2: seventy fourth Primetime Emmy Awards, she was nominated as a
Speaker 2: producer for the Outstanding Comedy Series.
Speaker 1: By the way, this is only the third time a
Speaker 1: Latina has ever been nominated as a producer for a
Speaker 1: comedy series in the Awards history, and much like jay
Speaker 1: Lo with Hustlers and the Oscars, many expressed how disappointed
Speaker 1: they were that Selena failed to receive an Emmy nomination
Speaker 1: for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Speaker 2: Even Steve Martin and Martin Short were like, yo, guys,
Speaker 2: what gives.
Speaker 1: They released a statement that said, we're a little dismayed
Speaker 1: that Selena didn't get nominated because she's so crucial to
Speaker 1: the trio, to the show.
Speaker 3: She kind of balances us.
Speaker 2: But it's okay. She had bigger and better things coming up.
Speaker 2: Having found peace with where she was in life, Selena
Speaker 2: thought it was the perfect moment to open up to
Speaker 2: the world in a new way.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, Selena released her documentary My Mind
Speaker 1: and Me.
Speaker 2: Directed by Alish Kashshian. The film follows Selena through six
Speaker 2: years of her life, starting in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: They had worked together on Selena's Hands to Myself music video,
Speaker 1: and Selena wanted to continue collaborating with Kashishian. He was
Speaker 1: no stranger to the doc game. He had famously worked
Speaker 1: on Madonna Truth or Dare Back in nineteen ninety one,
Speaker 1: eh Big.
Speaker 2: He was also clear that he had no interest in
Speaker 2: making another traditionally pop doc, so they took on a
Speaker 2: different approach.
Speaker 1: Throughout a series of interviews, Selena maintains that she lets
Speaker 1: the hate and headlines motivate her, but Kashshian, well, he
Speaker 1: captures something quite different.
Speaker 2: We see Selena break down and it's just so raw
Speaker 2: and it's so.
Speaker 1: Real and in my mind and me, we get to
Speaker 1: see something more vulnerable and authentic. Selena let him capture everything.
Speaker 1: And you guys, they did not expect this to be
Speaker 1: a project that expanded over six years, Yet here it is.
Speaker 1: It premiered at the AFI Fest in November twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: and was released two days later on Apple TV Plus.
Speaker 2: Okay, so, if you are an Android user like me,
Speaker 2: like kept download app and it's like a whole thing,
Speaker 2: but it's worketh it and critics loved it. It received
Speaker 2: the Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment by the Critics'
Speaker 2: Choice Association.
Speaker 1: And just in case there's like three people out there
Speaker 1: that have not seen this documentary and want to know
Speaker 1: how it really just centers on her and her journey
Speaker 1: and her healing, I'm going to let Rolling Stone describe it,
Speaker 1: they said. Any preliminary ideas that this might be a
Speaker 1: puff piece more vanity project are shattered five minutes in
Speaker 1: when the mental anguish that caused Gomez to cancel her
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen revival tour early and check herself into a
Speaker 1: treatment facility is on full, painful, tearful display. It's almost
Speaker 1: hard to watch. Like I have to say, when I
Speaker 1: watched it the first time, I watched it in pieces.
Speaker 1: And part of that is because you have to remember
Speaker 1: that I have worked in entertainment journalism for ten years,
Speaker 1: so I am part of this machine, right. I work
Speaker 1: on these shows that are sometimes rooted in rumor and scandal.
Speaker 1: It's my job, and I'm very proud of my job,
Speaker 1: and I'm very proud of the work that I do.
Speaker 1: And I'm also very proud of the fact that, you know,
Speaker 1: I have always stood my ground when it came to
Speaker 1: reporting things that felt mean spirited, or that felt false,
Speaker 1: or that felt like we didn't have enough information to
Speaker 1: run with it. I'm not saying that I wasn't overruled
Speaker 1: in an editorial meeting, but for somebody that covers this
Speaker 1: industry and who transacts on celebrity and fame, I had
Speaker 1: to watch it in parts because you see her like
Speaker 1: literally breaking down after an entire day of a junket.
Speaker 1: And I've been the reporter that sat across from Selena,
Speaker 1: And for me, this film was less about like, oh,
Speaker 1: she can't show up, it's what does this cause her
Speaker 1: to feel like in the days after, and when you
Speaker 1: see her like unable to get out of bed, like
Speaker 1: screaming at her friends, angry, like roaming her house, like
Speaker 1: you see it, You're like, shit, we did that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we did that to her.
Speaker 2: Well, people don't understand about celebrities or people of influence, right,
Speaker 2: just anybody anything very demanding is that you really always
Speaker 2: have to be on, but you have to be on
Speaker 2: in a way that's like not really you and that
Speaker 2: is just so mentally taxing, like Janos is what all?
Speaker 3: It's true?
Speaker 1: And you know, to give you guys context for what
Speaker 1: she was going through during the documentary.
Speaker 3: Remember she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease lupus, right,
Speaker 3: which is triggered and accelerated by stress. Okay, Then she
Speaker 3: had a kidney transplant in twenty seventeen. On top of that,
Speaker 3: she had a highly publicized makeup and break up with
Speaker 3: Justin Bieber. Then the weekend.
Speaker 1: Then she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which she first
Speaker 1: shared with us in that episode of Miley Cyrus's Instagram show.
Speaker 1: Bright minded all of that while she was executive producing
Speaker 1: starring Building a Beauty Empire. So we ask a lot
Speaker 1: of our people, but like at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I think Selena also asks a lot of herself and
Speaker 1: the combination of those two, like how does somebody even
Speaker 1: survive this.
Speaker 2: When you come from hubble beginnings as we have, You know,
Speaker 2: we don't know how to stop working.
Speaker 1: That idea of the constant work, Like you hear it
Speaker 1: referred to a lot as being on the hamster wheel.
Speaker 1: My therapist described it and defined it for me as
Speaker 1: a scarcity mind set. Yeah, you do not come from
Speaker 1: abundance because you do not know abundance. And it is
Speaker 1: not about I need more money, I need a bigger house.
Speaker 1: It is that I don't know if I'm going to
Speaker 1: have another meal.
Speaker 2: And the crazy thing is is that you you have
Speaker 2: a you can have a big house and all of
Speaker 2: these things, and it steal fucking feels the same way.
Speaker 1: Yes, it does not matter because that is generational trauma
Speaker 1: that is passed down. It is in our DNA. It
Speaker 1: is the way we are wired and it takes so
Speaker 1: much work to unprogram yourself from that. But again, having
Speaker 1: these conversations like we are having this conversation on this
Speaker 1: podcast because we're talking about sling.
Speaker 3: Look what Selena did.
Speaker 1: She gave us the opportunity to have this conversation.
Speaker 3: So thank you, Selena. We love you.
Speaker 1: Despite all the ups and downs of Selena's career, one
Speaker 1: thing is for certain that we.
Speaker 2: Deserve exclusive promo codes from Rare Beauty. Honestly, I need
Speaker 2: a restock on these blushes and the lipoile.
Speaker 3: I agree with you. One hundred percent.
Speaker 1: But what I was gonna say was that Selena never
Speaker 1: fails to surprise and delight the world beyond iconic. I
Speaker 1: love that we live in a world where someone with
Speaker 1: so much strength and resilience exists, and I, for one,
Speaker 1: and I speak for Joseph as well, cannot wait to
Speaker 1: see what she does next.
Speaker 2: On the next Becoming an Icon, we bring back our
Speaker 2: boy Bruno Mars and sit down with guests to discuss
Speaker 2: how both Bruno and Selena have changed a landscape of entertainment.
Speaker 1: Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael
Speaker 1: dudda podcast network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast