Which Does Selena Gomez Prefer: Acting Or Singing?
When a celebrity like Selena Gomez is known as a multi-hyphenate in show business, fans often wonder which kind of performing they prioritize. The star in question’s best friend, Taylor Swift, is obviously more about her music than her acting gigs (even when it comes to Cats). Is Gomez the same, or the opposite? Here’s what we know.
Gomez began as an actress
Gomez kicked off her career very young when she began to appear in Barney & Friends. Along with fellow future Disney Channel star Demi Lovato, the young actor filmed the series in her native Texas. Gomez played Gianna on the show until 2004.
Just a couple of years later, she was scooped up by Disney. Gomez first appeared as Cody’s girlfriend, Gwen, in an episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, before recurring as the eponymous character’s nemesis Mikayla in Hannah Montana. She then landed her own series, Wizards of Waverly Place, and it was all uphill from there.
She became a singer through her Disney career
As anyone who watched the Disney Channel growing up knows, it was typical for actors with musical talent to be hired, which was incorporated into their roles more often than not. Gomez sang the theme song for Wizards of Waverly Place, as well as other tunes for its soundtrack (see above).
Through Disney’s Hollywood Records, Gomez got a recording contract. Unlike her fellow musicians, however, she did something a bit different — she was signed as a member of a group, called Selena Gomez & the Scene. The artist put out three albums under that moniker before releasing her only solo album under Hollywood Records, Stars Dance.
Gomez focused on acting for awhile
Gomez parted ways with the Disney Channel and Hollywood Records in 2013. With that shift, she continued to act, only she stayed away from TV, focusing instead on the big screen. Gomez had already begun to distance herself from her Disney image with 2012’s Spring Breakers.
The actor continued on this trajectory with action-thriller Getaway, musical drama Rudderless, and teen sex comedy Behaving Badly. She did a couple of voice roles (specifically for the Hotel Transylvania franchise) and small movie parts in The Big Short and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. In 2019, she starred in the zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die.
Now, she’s back with ‘Rare’
During all of this, Gomez continued to make music. However, after her last album, 2015’s Revival, she only put out singles and collaborations with other artists. Fans couldn’t understand why it took so long to get another album. But fortunately, it’s now here.
Gomez began to tease her second album at Interscope Records in 2019. Rare was released on Jan. 10, 2020, and brought the singer-songwriter her first No. 1 hit. “Honestly, this album was kind of a nightmare to deal with,” she said in a video for Spotify “But in the best way possible. I thought that I was so ready — like, two years ago I thought I was ready.”
Why Gomez doesn’t make a lot of movies
Obviously, Gomez’s music is very important to her. But acting is also a passion she’s not letting go of. Though she’s transitioned into producing over the past few years with 13 Reasons Why and Living Undocumented, Gomez is eager to get back to her first love: acting.
“I want to do movies so bad. I want to do TV so bad,” she told Wall Street Journal Magazine in a recent interview. Gomez continued, saying, “I find that I look too young most of the time, or people can’t separate the two [the real Selena from a character], which bums me out. I continue to audition and I just have to wait for whatever my time is.”
