Because the debut studio album (released only last September, distributed locally by MCA Music Inc.) of her band, Selena Gomez and The Scene, is so titled, the first thing I asked Selena when I did an exclusive 20-minute phone interview (she was in L.A. and I was in Seoul for the Mariah Carey interview last October) was, “Do you, to quote your song’s title, Kiss & Tell?” (The album’s first single is Falling Down.)
The straight-forward seventeener didn’t deny it.
“Yes, I do,” she laughed a bit, “and you’ll find out in a while.”
Like Alex Russo, the middle-child character she plays in Wizards of Waverly Place, the Emmy Award-winning hit Disney Channel series which is now a telemovie, Selena is bright, bubbly and beautiful inside-out. She was only a voice on the telephone, all right, but her youthful exuberance was such that five minutes into the interview she made you feel as if you’ve known each other for ages.
An only child, Selena (a Cancerian) was born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas, to Ricardo Gomez, Mexican, and Mandy Teefy (nee Cornett), half-Italian, a former stage actress who was 16 when she gave birth to Selena who was named after the Tejano singer. Her parents separated when Selena was five years old and her mother remarried in 2006 to Brian Teefy.
At age seven, Selena had her acting debut as Gianna on Barney & Friends. In 2004, she was discovered by Disney Channel in a nationwide search, initially appearing as a guest star on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Hannah Montana before she was cast in Wizards of Waverly Place, ranked Disney Channel’s second highest-rating show with 11.4 million viewers.
The TV series is a comedy built around the themes of “believe in yourself” and “celebrate your family.” The Russo siblings (Alex, Justin and Max) are a lot like the teens in their neighborhood, but with one significant difference — they come from a long line of wizards and they must learn to hone their budding magical powers or soon risk losing them. They are tutored by their dad, Jerry, who was born with the same powers but was forced to relinquish them, when he married their mom, Theresa, a mortal. While their parents have their hands full running the family-owned sandwich shop, Waverly Sub Station, the teens grapple with both budding wizardly powers and typical teen challenges spanning school, friends and family.
Filmed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the movie follows the Russo family as they embark on a vacation to the Caribbean resort where Jerry and Theresa first met. The adventure comedy has Alex upset that she must accompany her family on the trip and she ultimately conjures a spell that reverses her parents’ fateful first meeting and puts the Russo family’s very existence in question. To cancel the spell, Alex and Justin must set out through the jungle to find the all-powerful “Stone of Dreams.” Meanwhile, Max scrambles to make his parents fall in love again.
Written by Dan Berendsen (Hannah Montana The Movie) and directed by Lev L. Spiro (Ugly Betty, Minutemen), Wizards of Waverly Place also stars David Henrie and Jake T. Austin as the other Russo siblings, Maria Canals-Barrera as Theresa and David De Luise as Jerry.
Selena was involved in the UR Votes Count campaign which helped encourage teenagers learn more about 2008 presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. In October last year, she was named spokesperson for UNICEF’s 2008 Trick-or-Treat campaign which encouraged children to raise money on Halloween to help children around the world.
What are some of your memorable experiences while shooting Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie?
“Just being with my co-stars was very memorable. They made the trip to Puerto Rico truly wonderful. They have become basically my family at this point. It is really wonderful to be able to kind of take someone out their environment and you get to know them very well. That was the nicest thing for all of us.”
Having been together in the TV series and the movie, how did you nurture friendship and camaraderie with your co-stars?
“Everything came pretty much naturally. When I met everybody we all kind of clicked instantly even if we moved from different places — David is from Arizona, Jake is from New York, Jennifer and I are from Texas. We didn’t have anybody out here. In the beginning, all we had was each other. And now...yes, we are like one happy family.”
You started in showbiz at age seven. Don’t you think that you missed part of a “normal” childhood?
“No, not really. My mom makes sure that I still have moments of being a kid and growing up like anybody else who are not in showbiz. Like any typical teenager, I go to the movies with my friends. I should say that I get the best of both worlds.”
What kind of family did you come from, conservative or liberal? Is your mom more like a friend than a mother to you?
“Oh, my mom is like my best friend. She’s my mother and she’s my fan. Yes, she’s my mom and my friend. I love her.”
Wizards is a feel-good TV series and movie. What kind of movies makes you feel good?
“I always think that comedies make me feel good...romantic-comedies. I want to laugh.”
What was the last romantic-comedy that you saw?
(Thinks hard) “Hmmmmm...I can’t think of one. I don’t know. That must have been a long time ago.”
How is it growing up in the public eye?
“It can be frustrating at times, especially when people pry into your personal life. When people are constantly looking at you, watching your every move, I find that kind of weird sometimes. But I really do enjoy my job and I think that’s worth it.”
I suppose you are friends with Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), who is half-Filipina. She’s your fellow Disney star. How’s your friendship with her?
“Wonderful! She says she’s older than me and she knows much more about the business than I do. She’s very classy.”
Do you have girl talk with Vanessa every now and then?
“Yes, everything!”
Which fairy-tale character would you compare yourself with?
“Oh, that’s hard!”
Cinderella or Snow White?
(Laughs) “I wish I could be Snow White! Hahahaha!”
Why not Cinderella? You appeared in the movie Another Cinderella Story in 2008.
“Yes, I did. But I still want to be Snow White.”
In your wildest imagination, what would you like to do or to be?
“It’s something very simple — I’d like to be a chef.”
Yes, of course. I read somewhere that you love to cook.
“Yes, but I don’t have time to ever cook.”
What’s your favorite food?
“Italian food.”
You have a band called Selena Gomez and The Scene. Can you tell us more about it?
“My band’s name came from what people making fun of me, saying that I was one of the scene and yet I really was not. They were insulting me and I used it as my band’s name. That’s why I called our debut studio album Kiss & Tell because I want to tell on those people who have insulted me. Hahahaha!”
According to your bio, your all-time favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz, right?
“Yes, you’re right. Why that movie (starring Judy Garland)? Well, my mom introduced me to that movie as I grew up. She had a lot of Judy Garland albums. Judy Garland is very good in that movie; she was a very good actress. That movie is the reason why I wanted to be an actress.”
What’s your favorite Judy Garland song?
“Somewhere Over The Rainbow. That was the first song I learned to sing. I was only six years old then.”
How is it being an only child? Don’t you wish you had a brother or a sister?
“I used to when I was growing up but not anymore. And now, working on a show where I play a middle child in a way makes me experience how it is to have brothers and sisters.”
Wizards is built around the themes “believe in yourself” and “celebrate your family.” Right down your alley. Do you follow those themes in real life?
“Yes, absolutely! I believe in myself and I celebrate my family.”
It’s because you are family-oriented.
“Yes, I am. My father is Mexican and my mother is half-Italian. We are a closely-knit family.”
If you had wizardly powers like the girl in the TV series and movie, what would you do with them? How would you use them to promote world peace?
“Oh gosh. I don’t know. That’s a heavy question. I really wouldn’t know. But I wish I had those powers. That would be awesome.”
Okay, the usual parting question: How would you describe Selena Gomez in three words?
“Active. Dork. Emotional.”
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)