9 September: Selena graces the cover of October issue of Vanity Fair

Selena graces the cover of October issue of ‘Vanity Fair Magazine’ as she opens up about her love for acting and singing in the new interview.

Full photoshoot in HQ: gallery.armyofselenagomez.com

Her speaking voice is a famously soothing low hum. To say it’s unmistakable would be putting it mildly: You try going incognito sounding like Selena Gomez.

“Yeah, it doesn’t work,” she tells me. “Literally one time I was in line for something. I was fully in disguise, and I was talking to someone. I don’t even remember what I said. And then the woman in front of me goes, ‘My God, it is you! I thought I heard your voice!’ ” That was years ago. “I was like, oh God, what do I sound like to people? And then I also feel so silly once I get busted.”

When Gomez’s team files out, she settles on a couch the color of mulled wine. She looks cozy and hale in a denim Free People jumpsuit and Ugg slippers. Her skin is aglow, her hair voluminous. She is, like some other stars of her magnitude, much more slight in person, her features writ delicate. Gomez redid Rare Beauty’s offices last year and shared a carousel of photos with her 425 million followers on Instagram. At the time of our interview, she’s taking a break from the app but hasn’t announced it to her fans—the Selenators—because she has a habit of dramatically announcing social media breaks, then logging back on less than 24 hours later to post a selfie or leave a comment somewhere. It’s one of her more aggressively relatable habits, this inability to resist the apps after boldly saying she’s done with them. “I learned not to say that anymore,” she deadpans. Right now, she’s trying to quietly enjoy her time in the analog world. “I’ve been loving it,” she says calmly. “I’ve been working out. I’ve been taking care of myself. It’s the first time I’ve had a break in a little bit. So I feel good.”

Gomez also became the most nominated Latina producer ever in the best comedy category, thanks to the series. She had no idea she was about to set a record. “When I heard that, I felt like I made my dad’s side of the family proud,” she says. “It was really cool to have that be a part of my story. I’m grateful for breaking barriers. Hopefully this is not a one-time thing.” Gomez’s father, Ricardo Joel Gomez, is Mexican American. He and her mother—the former actor Mandy Teefey, whom Gomez has credited with steering her through some daunting poverty early on and inspiring her career—named her after the Tejano icon Selena and raised her in Grand Prairie, Texas. “It’s empowering and it’s alleviating,” Saldaña says of seeing Gomez make history as a Latina. “When you meet her, you get the sense that she is owning her growth and owning her life and her voice. I’m grateful that our paths have crossed.”

The musical part of Emilia Pérez came easier. Gomez dove into the singing and the often intense choreography, which meant tapping back into her pop persona. “I can sing Spanish really well,” she says, having released several songs in Spanish, including the 2021 EP Revelación. She enjoyed recording the songs for this film, which were written by French singer and lyricist Camille with Clément Ducol, but wants fans to know she doesn’t have plans to release any new music of her own at the moment. “I don’t know if I’m ready, you know?” she says. “It’s a vulnerable space. Acting has always been my first love. Music is just a hobby that went out of control. Now it is a part of who I am, so I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I’m just not ready yet.”

“I love female artists,” she says. “I’ve been to all the girls’ concerts—Billie, Dua….” And of course, she can always pick up the phone and call Taylor Swift, a longtime friend. “She is really like a big sister to me,” she says. They talk about the industry from time to time, with Gomez seeking advice on music or how to navigate new friendships at their respective levels of fame. More often than not, though, they’re just gossiping about the things that all friends gossip about and comparing notes on the latest season of Vanderpump Rules. “I’m on The Valley now,” Gomez says, referring to the latest—and deeply haunted—spin-off of the Bravo reality series. “I’ve watched every episode of Vanderpump, so I don’t care if it’s bad!”

Her mother gave birth to her when she was 16, and her parents were only married for a few years. “It was hard on me,” she says. “They were kids, so we were all growing up together.”

Gomez had a firm plan in place to start a family by the age of 35. “Before I met my boyfriend, I was single for five years, with the exception of going on a few dates,” she says. “And I was like, ‘Okay, if this is the vibe, then what is the most important thing to me? Family.’ ” In the past Gomez has said she would be open to adopting children, partly inspired by the fact that her mother was adopted. If she hadn’t been, “I probably wouldn’t be here. I don’t know what her life would’ve been like. She and I are very thankful for how life played out.”

The theme of family pops up again and again during our conversation. Gomez is a godmother to her cousin Priscilla’s two children, so she gets a front-row seat to the wonderful and sometimes brutal experience of being a parent. “She keeps it real,” Gomez says of her cousin’s candor. She’s speaking excitedly about this, then briefly pauses. All this talk of motherhood: It’s reminding her of something that’s been weighing on her. “I haven’t ever said this,” she says, “but I unfortunately can’t carry my own children. I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s in jeopardy. That was something I had to grieve for a while.”

Gomez communicates this calmly and without sentimentality. “It’s not necessarily the way I envisioned it,” she says of becoming a parent one day. “I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone. [But] I’m in a much better place with that. I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge possibilities for me. It made me really thankful for the other outlets for people who are dying to be moms. I’m one of those people. I’m excited for what that journey will look like, but it’ll look a little different. At the end of the day, I don’t care. It’ll be mine. It’ll be my baby.”

Gomez is still on a journey with her mental health but now has tools and protocols to take care of herself. She loves using temperature as a healing mechanism and finds cold water or space heaters to be soothing at different times. She’ll also do a mental exercise that’s hugely helpful: “I remind myself that I’m okay. I ground myself for a moment. ‘Where am I? I’m sitting down in the office. Everybody that I love is out there. There’s food. I can get something to eat. I can take a nap here before I leave.’ I put myself into the present.”

People were calling me a victim. That frustrates me, because being vulnerable is actually one of the strongest things you can do. That narrative is not going to take over my life. I’m grateful every day. And I have my days like everyone else, but I’m no victim. I just survived a lot. There isn’t a part of me that wants anyone to feel sorry for me.”

Read the full interview at: www.vanityfair.com