Selena
Gomez is in the
"Princess Protection Program"
by Lynn Barker
 As
well as going into her third season on "The Wizards of Waverly Place",
hot 16-year-old Selena Gomez teamed up with her BFF Demi Lovato to co-star
in "The Princess Protection Program" on the Disney Channel and
out on DVD on June 30th. Selena plays a tomboy-ish, smalltown girl who,
at first, feels displaced when an actual princess (played by Demi) is
rescued by her secret service-type dad, moves in and, while given a new
identity, goes to her high school. Will these two end up "frenemies"
or true galpals?
We were able
to interview Selena recently in Burbank when we sat down together in the
ABC TV building to catch up on her TV movie, season three of "Wizards"
[she'd like more mature scenes with Jake!] and her first theatrical film
Beezus and Ramona which she has just wrapped. We talked about
what Selena and Demi share as longtime friends and learned about line
flubs, crushes, advice for teens, what's on the new DVD and the girls'
new music video from the film!
Selena was
looking stylishly cute in black and white, off the shoulder silk tunic
blouse over slacks and wearing high black patent pumps.
AGW: Were
you and Demi looking for a film to do together?
Selena: We
begged Disney Channel for two years straight to have us do something.
I think that Disney Channel didn't really believe our friendship in the
beginning. I couldn't explain to them more than 'we've known each other
since we were seven. We've lived together. We've schooled together'. I
still don't think they got it until they saw the footage and saw how we
spent almost every waking moment together. So, they surprised us and came
to us with a project for us to do together.
AGW: How did
you decide which of you would play which part? Did you both want to play
the princess?
Selena: We
each auditioned for the other role actually. But, when we were testing
we were like 'something doesn't feel right. I feel like we should try
it the other way'. Our instincts work pretty well together chemistry-wise,
so we both felt it that we should be in the opposite role and so it worked
out.
AGW: How did
you relate to your cute tomboy character in the movie?
Selena: Growing
up I was more of a tomboy than a girlie girl. So it was kind of stepping
back into my childhood a little bit. It was nice to play someone still
a little uncomfortable in her skin and trying to figure out who she is.
I think that's very relatable. I'm still figuring out who I am so that
was nice.
AGW: Was it
nice to have a female director on this [Allison Liddi-Brown] because she
"gets" girls I would think.
Selena: Yes,
absolutely. She was great, really good. She already knew Demi and my friendship.
She'd looked at the You-Tube videos and saw all the stuff. She studied
all of it and felt like she knew us before she came on set and she did
know girls very well. I feel like it's a very girl-empowering movie; the
whole friendship element. It makes it even more empowering that we had
a woman director. That ties it together really well.
AGW: What
was it like working on the movie?
Selena: Insane,
too much fun! It didn't feel like work most of the time. It was just being
there with your best friend in Puerto Rico on vacation. They have beautiful
beaches and snorkeling.
AGW: In the
film, Demi's princess character has a lot of trouble fitting in at school.
Have you had that in your life?
Selena: Absolutely.
It's a big deal trying to fit in and that's all that matters in a teen's
world is being able to fit in at school or make sure you are in with the
in crowd or wanting to do this or that and that's when you start to lose
yourself I think. When I was younger, I wanted to be a cheerleader. You
go through those phases but I wouldn't tell anyone to not go through that
because you learn from them. I always say 'be the best you can be. Focus
more on school' but it's hard.
AGW: Who did
you miss while you were shooting down in Puerto Rico?
Selena: I
realized I missed Jennifer Stone who plays my best friend on the show
"Wizards of Waverly Place". I missed her a lot when I was gone.
I'm really excited that we got picked up for season three so we'll go
back to our groove and it's going to be fun.
 AGW:
Where would you and your BFF Demi go on a vacation adventure?
Selena: We
talk about going to Spain. We talk about going to Fiji. We want to enjoy
a vacation together and I think we will in the future. We also want to
make playlists and do a road trip!
AGW: You are
so much alike in many ways but how are you different?
Selena: I
remember, she went through this phase where she listened to music I absolutely
hated. We lived together for six months when we came out here and, in
the morning, she would play this music and I'd be like 'Demi!' but then
I'd find myself singing the songs too. I think that's what it's about.
We don't judge each other and just appreciate the difference. If there
is something that she's doing that I would never do in a million years,
I support it. That's all you have to do.
AGW: Doing
the song "One in the Same" with Demi for the movie, was that
fun, or new for you?
Selena: We
sang growing up 24/7. That's all we'd do.
AGW: But not
on TV.
Selena: No.
That was the first song we got to do together.
AGW: But you've
always sung for fun.
Selena: Yeah.
We have 100's of videos that we don't really want to release because we
sing all the time. I love going into harmonies with her so being able
to do a song together was crazy. Doing a music video with your best friend,
you couldn't ask for anything better to be performing on a stage with
someone you love.
AGW: Demi
has been on tour with her music. Has she given you any pointers?
Selena: Demi
has always been more musically involved so I kind of grew up in the studio
with her and listening to all of her music. So, the moment that I got
to play my music for her was kind of asking for approval at first. I played
her my music and 'what's she gonna think?' And she loved it. She loves
all my stuff. She tells me to send it so she can jam out to it. It was
really nice to have her perspective on it.
AGW: You are
a role model for young girls and teens. What advice do you have for them?
Selena: I
think we're going through a lot of the same things. Demi and I are very
relatable because we are 16. We're going through some different things
but we call each other and we get upset about boys. We get upset about
drama in school that's a little too much. It's good to have someone that
you can cry with. Just being able to say 'be strong' is sometimes not
the answer.
AGW: So Demi
is a true BFF.
Selena: Yeah.
It's nice to break down and cry and have someone to do that with. She
twitters me right back too. She's the only person I can bawl my eyes out
with and then end up laughing hysterically. You can get it all out and
laugh with your best friends.
AGW: What
do you do to kick back?
Selena: I
like talking to my grandmother. I love being back home, watch a DVD in
sweat pants or spend time with Demi or it's just nice to be alone.
AGW: What
was it like to turn 13? Do you remember?
Selena: Then,
I was trying to teach myself to skateboard so I could impress my crush.
I was in love with Jesse McCartney at that age so all over my locker and
my binder was Jesse McCartney. That was an interesting stage. You're very
focused on all the little things that just don't matter once you get older.
I was so involved with crushes that shouldn't even matter. They are a
big deal to kids. I still have crushes but I don't go and embarrass myself
trying to skateboard in front of them! It didn't even work!
AGW: What's
the first thing you do when you haven't seen each other for a while and
get back together?
Selena: She's
on vacation right now but we run up to each other and we are so loud when
we get together. We scream across the room and then run and hold each
other and talk about everything at 90 miles an hour to get it all out.
I think distance does make us feel more sister-like when we get together.
AGW: Do you
remember doing anything specifically for the DVD of "Princess"?
 Selena:
We did do a lot of behind the scenes footage and behind the scenes of
our music video too. You won't actually see that whole video unless you
buy our DVD and you get two BFF necklaces [in some special editions of
the DVD. You also get "A Royal Reality" - a featurette about
a Real-Life Princess taking about her royal responsibilities and wardrobe].
AGW: Did you
guys blow lines and mess anything up?
Selena: Oh
yeah. It was especially difficult for Demi because she had to learn French
and be in her Princess mannerisms 24/7 so there were a lot of her own
instincts coming out and she'd say 'oh yeah' instead of [a more formal]
"yes'. They told me to stop being too "girlie" for my character.
AGW: You must
have a lot of fan encounters. Anything really touching?
Selena: The
most recent one I got was a girl going through chemo and she came to meet
me on set of 'Ramona'. She and her mother drove to our set and waited
outside. I walked out and saw her. She was nine years old and her mother
started crying when I met her. I talked to her about the show and the
movie and she had me sign her hat and take pictures with her. Very sweet.
The next day I got a letter from her saying 'thank you very much' then
a separate letter from her mother saying what she's been going through
and she said the only thing she can smile at is my show and meeting me
was really nice for her. I started crying reading the letter and that's
when I realized that I'm really blessed to be doing what I'm doing.
AGW: Can you
talk about shooting Beezus and Ramona [the feature film based
on the Beverly Cleary book series].
Selena: I
had so much fun. Just got back. I was crying with [younger co-star] Joey
[King] because I had to leave. I was really scared to step into that [feature
film] world. It didn't have Disney Channel on it so I wasn't comfortable
enough but it was nice. It was a good challenge for me and I got to work
with really good actors and actresses and learn from all of them and work
with a whole new crew. It was really intimidating for me but it was good
to step out of it for a while. I hope everyone likes it. It's a good sister/family
movie.
AGW: Did you
hang out with Joey before you filmed or between shots?
Selena: Me
and Joey went shopping a lot. I spent a lot of time with Joey, not only
because I wanted to get to know her because we were playing sisters but
I ended up becoming a great friend with a nine-year-old! She knows everything
about me now. Kids see black and white and they're just fearless. They
either say 'yes' or 'no'. I think you lose that when you get older with
getting heartbreaks and getting trampled on. Your guard goes up and you
start overanalyzing things too much. That's what I appreciated about Joey,
she just didn't care. She's so honest. So, now I have her looking at my
dresses and listening to my music and asking 'what do you think?'
AGW: She'll
tell it like it is, huh?
Selena: Oh
yeah. When we were leaving the production for the last time, we were in
the bathroom crying and she said, 'I don't mean to be rude but you really
look like crap right now'. [she laughs]. I spent 30 minutes laughing after
that.
First picture
courtesy and copyright Lynn Barker, 2009
Other pictures
courtesy of and copyright The Disney Channel, 2009
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