Selena Gomez

1992-present

Selena Gomez Now: Wins Cannes Best Actress for Emilia Pérez

Selena Gomez wasn’t at the Cannes Film Festival to receive her Best Actress award win for Emilia Pérez, but that didn’t damper the 31-year-old’s excitement. Gomez was in New York City during the festival award ceremony on May 25 and learned of the honor in a phone call from co-star Zoe Saldaña. The two shared the award with fellow Emilia Pérez Adriana Paz and Karla Sofía Gascón for the musical crime comedy.

“Thank you SO much @festivaldecannes and the whole board,” Gomez wrote in an Instagram story.

Cannes jury president Greta Gerwig explained the decision, saying that awarding only one of the women in the movie would have undermined their collective effort. “Women together—that’s something we wanted to honor when we made this award. Each of them is a standout, but together transcendent,” she said.

Actor and singer Selena Gomez got her start in show business at age 9 with a two-year run on the kids show Barney & Friends. Gomez became a Disney Channel star in 2007 as the lead in the show Wizards of Waverly Place. She is also known for her roles in the Hotel Transylvania movie franchise and Hulu’s hit comedy series Only Murders In the Building, which earned her a 2023 Golden Globe nomination. Simultaneously, Gomez grew her pop music career, and her three solo albums have topped the Billboard 200 chart. Her hit songs include “Lose You To Love Me,” “Good For You,” and “Calm Down.” The founder of Rare Beauty has a massive social media following and became the first woman on Instagram to surpass 400 million followers in March 2023.

FULL NAME: Selena Marie Gomez
BORN: July 22, 1992
BIRTHPLACE: Grand Prairie, Texas
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Selena Marie Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, on July 22, 1992, to Amanda Cornett and Ricardo Gomez. Her mother, commonly known as Mandy, gave birth to Gomez at the age of 16.

Gomez began her career in show business in 2001 when she performed on the popular children’s program Barney & Friends as Gianna. Dropped from the series after two years, Gomez auditioned for other shows without much success. She landed a small role in the movie Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over in 2003 and a bit part as Julie on Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire in 2005. She also signed on to play Emily Grace Garcia in Brain Zapped in 2006, and even recorded a song for the show.

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Wizards of Waverly Place

In 2006, Gomez guest starred as Gwen in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody on the Disney Channel. Earning more work from Disney, Gomez was tapped to play the evil Mikayla for the Hannah Montana series.

She then landed her first starring role when the channel cast her as Alex Russo in the show Wizards of Waverly Place in 2007. The hit series ran for four seasons, until 2012, and won two Emmys for Outstanding Children’s Program.

News broke in January 2024 that Gomez will serve as an executive producer on a reboot of the series, this time focused on Alex’s brother. The actor will guest star in the pilot episode, due out later in the year on Disney Channel and Disney+.

Another Cinderella Story and Princess Protection Program

In 2008, Gomez made her first animated movie, Horton Hears a Who!, and starred in the ABC Family movie Another Cinderella Story with fellow Disney Channel actor Andrew Seeley. Selena filmed two projects for the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise as well. The first was Princess Protection Program, released in 2009 and also starring Demi Lovato. Later in 2009, she starred in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.

Hotel Transylvania

In 2012, Gomez performed the voice of Mavis in the animated movie Hotel Transylvania. She has since reprised the roles in the film’s three sequels, released in 2015, 2018, and 2022.

Breaking out of children’s fare, Gomez starred alongside James Franco and Vanessa Hudgens, among others, in Harmony Korine’s comedic crime thriller Spring Breakers (2013). That same year, Gomez co-starred with Ethan Hawke in the action thriller Getaway. In 2014, Gomez was featured in the comedy Behaving Badly, with Mary-Louise Parker.

The next year, she joined the cast of Season 9 of The Voice as a mentor for Gwen Stefani’s team.

Only Murders In The Building

After several years away from the big screen, Gomez returned in 2019 in Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die. The next year, the multi-talented artist voiced the character of Betsy the giraffe in the Robert Downey Jr. film Dolittle.

But her most successful role of late is as Mabel Mora on the Hulu comedy series Only Murders In The Building. Now three seasons in, Gomez stars alongside comedic legends Steven Martin and Martin Short as true crime–obsessed neighbors who attempt to solve a murder in their building on New York City’s Upper West Side. Gomez earned a 2023 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Actress – Musical/Comedy Series, and the show, for which she also serves as a producer, earned back-to-back Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series. Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd guest-starred throughout Season 3 in summer 2023.

Gomez will return for season four of the series on August 27, 2024.

New Movies: Emilia Peréz and Linda Ronstadt Biopic

In addition to her upcoming TV appearances on Only Murders In The Building and the Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff, Gomez is set to return to the silver screen in a couple of buzzworthy projects. She has a supporting role in Emilia Peréz, a Spanish-language film about a Mexican drug lord who transitions into a woman. The musical comedy premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival to wide praise, with Gomez and her co-stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Adriana Paz sharing the best actress award. A release date in the United States hasn’t yet been announced.

Elsewhere, Gomez is set to star as 11-time Grammy-winner Linda Ronstadt in a new biopic directed by David O. Russell. The movie is in the early stages of production.

Along with her acting, Gomez began building a music career by recording soundtrack songs in 2008 and 2009. That included three tunes for the soundtrack to her movie Another Cinderella Story, a song for the animated movie Tinker Bell, the single “One and the Same” for Princess Protection Program as a duet with co-star Demi Lovato, as well as four songs for the soundtrack to Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.

Soon, Gomez moved on to original music as the lead singer of Selena Gomez & the Scene. The pop band, which had a contract with Hollywood Records, released three albums: Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011). Some of their popular songs included “Love You Like a Love Song,” “Who Says,” and “Naturally.” The group split up in 2012.

Solo Albums

Far from the end of her musical journey, Gomez embarked on a solo career the next year. She has released three studio albums, all of which have topped the Billboard 200 upon release, and a Spanish-language EP.

Gomez has shared she is working on a new album, sharing photos from inside a recording studio in June 2023. She hasn’t announced its name or details about its release other than to say she “hopes” it will be in 2024.

Hit Songs

Gomez has regularly graced the Billboard Hot 100. Her first Top 10 hit, “Come & Get It,” came in April 2013. “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” “Good For You” featuring A$AP Rocky, “Same Old Love,” and “Hands To Myself” followed. Then, in November 2019, “Lose You To Love Me” soared to No. 1 ahead of its inclusion on her third album, Rare.

Other popular songs include 2017’s “Bad Liar,” “Fetish” featuring Gucci Mane, and “It Ain’t Me,” a collaboration with Norwegian DJ Kygo. She also teamed up with the mysterious Marshmello for ”Wolves.” In May 2018, Gomez released the track “Back to You” for Netflix’s teen suicide drama 13 Reasons Why.

More recently, Gomez has found success on collaboration singles, such as “Baila Conmigo” with Rauw Alejandro, “Let Somebody Go” with Coldplay, and “Calm Down” with Rema. Her newest songs include “Single Soon,” which cracked the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 after its August 2023 release, and “Love On.”

Billboard’s Woman of the Year

In November 2017, months after undergoing kidney transplant surgery, Gomez was named woman of the year at the annual Billboard Women in Music event. “I would like to thank my amazing team and my family because they stuck with me through some really hard times,” she told the crowd. “And I got to do a lot this year, even though I had a couple of other things to do.”

In early January 2014, it was reported that Gomez had been battling lupus—an autoimmune disease that can cause facial swelling, fatigue, headaches, and joint pain—for more than two years. In September 2017, the multitalented artist revealed that advancing symptoms of lupus had forced her to undergo a kidney transplant earlier in the year, with her roommate and friend Francia Raísa serving as the donor.

One month later, Gomez provided details of the experience with The Today show’s Savannah Guthrie in an NBC news interview: “She lived with me in this interesting time where my kidneys were just done,” Gomez recalled. “The thought of asking somebody to [donate] was really difficult for me. And she volunteered and did it… The fact that she was a match, I mean, that’s unbelievable.”

Thanks to Raísa, Gomez was able to quickly move to the operating room for the life-saving procedure. While there were additional complications during the operation, Gomez has recovered nicely, noting that there was a 3 to 5 percent chance of her lupus resurfacing.

In November 2017, Gomez was honored at the Lupus Research Alliance Annual Gala in New York City for helping to raise more than $500,000 toward research for the disease. During her speech, she recalled the moment doctors stressed to her the urgency of undergoing a transplant procedure. “It actually got to a point where it was life-or-death,” she said. “Thankfully, one of my best friends gave me her kidney, and it was the ultimate gift of life. And I am doing quite well now.”

The chart-topping artist, who previously spoke about her battles with anxiety and depression, revealed in an April 2020 interview with Miley Cyrus that she had been diagnosed as bipolar. “When I got to know more information, it actually helps me,” Gomez told her fellow former Disney star. “It doesn’t scare me once I know it.”

Gomez opened up even more about her mental health in the 2022 Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, revealing that she was initially skeptical about getting help. “I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t wanna go to the mental health hospital,” she says in the documentary. “I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to be trapped in myself and my mind anymore. I thought my life was over. I thought, ‘This is what my life’s going to be like forever.’”

Choosing to make a documentary about something so personal was difficult. So was watching the final version. “It’s very hard for me to watch,” Gomez said in 2023. “I will never watch it again, but I’m very proud of it.”

Outside of acting and music, Gomez has delved into business. In 2017, she teamed with Coach to launch the Selena Grace line of handbags and accessories, and the following year, the two sides collaborated again for a ready-to-wear collection.

September 2020 saw the launch of Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, her massively popular makeup line, and the Rare Impact Fund, its philanthropic partner dedicated to mental health. Each year, 1 percent of product sales are donated to the charitable venture; as of April 2024, Rare Impact Fund has raised more than $13 million. Bloomberg reported in July 2023 that the company sold $70 million worth of a liquid blush year to date and the company expected to triple its overall says year over year.

Additionally, Gomez has served as a spokesperson for Borden Milk, appearing in the organization’s advertising campaign and print ads. She also worked on a campaign that encouraged teenagers to learn more about the 2008 presidential candidates. A supporter of UNICEF, 17-year-old Gomez became one of the organization’s ambassadors in 2009 and works to help children around the world through her C.A.N. (Charity, Action, Now) initiative.

Selena Gomez and music producer Benny Blanco have been dating since June 2023.



Gomez is currently dating music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco. She confirmed their relationship on social media in December 2023, stating they had been together for six months at that point. The pair have known each other for many years and have also worked together on songs such as 2015’s “Same Old Love,” 2019’s “I Can’t Get Enough” with J Balvin, and 2023’s “Single Soon.”

When they were just friends, Gomez once asked Blanco if he could set her up with someone he knew. He introduced her to a friend at a birthday party, and it was then the singer realized the person she had feelings for was actually Blanco.

Likewise, the music producer didn’t realize how deep his feelings were for Gomez. “I was the last one to know,” he said in an April 2024 interview with WSJ magazine. “It’s crazy how your partner could just be sitting there the whole time, right in front of your eyes, and you don’t even notice, and then you have that Clueless moment where you’re like ‘Wait, I’m in love.’”

Past Relationships: Justin Bieber and More

Gomez previously dated fellow musicians Nick Jonas, Zedd, and The Weeknd, as well as been romantically linked to other stars. But her most well-known relationship has been with pop star Justin Bieber.

She and Bieber first met in 2009 and eventually entered into an on- and off-again relationship. Even after their final breakup in early 2018, the romance still provides fodder for the celebrity gossip mill. In 2023, the internet was aroar over a social media drama between Gomez and Hailey Bieber, whom Justin married in September 2018.

Gomez has publicly feuded with her mother, Mandy Teefy. The two unfollowed each other on Instagram in December 2017, with some speculating it was because the singer had rekindled her romance with Bieber, though another source said the situation was more complicated than that. Teefy later told Gossip Cop that she wasn’t happy with her daughter dating Bieber, but said there was little she could do about it. “Selena can live her life however she wants as long as she is happy, safe and healthy,” she said.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Gomez’s total fortune is estimated at around $800 million as of April 2024. This is primarily due to the success of Rare Beauty. The brand was reportedly on pace to generate at least $300 million in 2023 and has an estimated valuation between $1.2 billion and $2 billion.

• Once you start to share a tiny bit, you just realize how much less alone you are and how so many of us are more alike than we are different.
• My own fans, who I adore and feel like have shaped who I am, will say the most hurtful things to me about how I live my life.
  
• I don’t ever feel, even for five seconds, that I’m crazy.
  
• This industry is a beast. It’s really scary to see what happens when you’re given so much power and money at a young age.
  

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