Expand Partners San Diego Comic Con 2014 Expand Partners
Jungle

Selena Gomez (Monte Carlo)

Selena Gomez: The Interview (Monte Carlo)
DID YOU KNOW?

Selena Gomez is named after famous Tijuana singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez.

Selena Gomez has carved out a career for herself on Disney Channel's The Wizards of Waverly Place.  In 2010, Gomez starred in the hit movie 'Ramona & Beezus' as her first theatrical release.  After spending months attempting to take the focus off of her headline-grabbing relationship with pop star Justin Bieber, Gomez talks with Shakefire.com in Atlanta to talk about her role in the summer romantic comedy 'Monte Carlo', in which she stars opposite Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), Katie Cassidy (Melrose Place, Gossip Girl) and Glee's Cory Monteith.

SHAKEFIRE: What excited you most about shooting this movie. Was it the Clothes, the locations?
SELENA GOMEZ: Everything, It’s every girls dream

SF: Tell me about the accents in the film. A lot of people don’t realize that it’s one thing to play a character who has an accent, but quite another thing to play a character who is imitating a different accent.
SG: It was hard, but it was actually much easier than I thought it was going to be. I was really stressed while we were rehearsing and shooting, the entire time. But Cordelia was so much fun to play because she seems so evil, but she doesn’t really say hurtful things. She’s just demanding. She’s not intentionally trying to hurt people; it’s just how she is. So it was actually very fun for me to play it up with her snooty accent.

SF: You had to assume two very different personalities. Was it difficult to switch back and forth between the uppity socialite Cordelia and the sweet small town Grace?
SG: It was actually very easy, which is the scariest thing. It was hard to do it when it was in the same scene.

SF: What excited you most about the part?
SG: Everything! I met with Tom Bezucha, the director of the film, and he and Fox had me in mind for the film from the beginning. They thought it’d be a perfect transition for me. And then once they told me the locations they were going to go on, I mean, that’s every girl’s dream. So I was very excited.

SF: Did you get recognized while you were filming in Europe?
SG: We shot most of the film in Hungary, and most people didn’t know any of the cast there. That was fun, because we could just walk around on the street, and talk to people. In Paris, a lot of people recognized Leighton (Meester) more than me, because Gossip Girl is really big there. And in Monaco, there were a lot of great fans too.

SF: Did the three of you bond, and end up being like the Three Musketeers of the set?
SG: Yes, that’s what they called us! I was intimidated at first. At the time Katie (Cassidy) was doing Melrose Place, and of course Leighton was doing Gossip Girl. So I was nervous because they’re a little older and are on big shows, and I thought I was going to be treated like a little kid. But they took me under their wing and treated me like I was one of them. We spent every second together. We went to the beaches on the weekends, and went to dinner, and had sleepovers, and just had a great time.

SF: The clothes are amazing, just to get ready for the party scene took several hours. Can you tell me a little about what that was like?
SG: That was awful! The dress that I’m wearing in the poster was THAT dress and we had to shoot at night for that. We started hair and makeup at 6pm and wouldn’t be on set until 10pm because they wanted to wait until it was completely dark. I was exhausted. I just wanted to lean my head on Leighton but I couldn’t because we would mess it up.

SF: Obviously, you used body doubles during a lot of the scenes where Grace and Cordelia had to be together.  Did you have to use doubles in the polo scenes?
SG: Let me tell you about that.  In the script, I was actually supposed to be good at polo.  I did two weeks of intense training and I ended up being so bad that re-wrote it in the script that I was not good.  Which ended up making it a lot funnier which was nice.  Grace was supposed to be better at polo Cordelia.  Cordelia was supposed to be like "Oh, I don't care about polo".  So, I was supposed to come on and impress all these people by playing polo but I'm not good at it.  But, I did learn how to Western ride which ended up being better for Grace's character because she's from Texas so they added that line where she's riding Western, she's not riding English.  But, it was really funny because I looked ridiculous.  And Pierre (Boulanger), who played my love interest; I trained a week more than he did and he came in and in two days picked up polo.  It was not funny.  

SF: Breaking into a larger theatrical release, did it make it a little easier that the storyline was split fairly evenly between the three of you?
SG: Yes, because it was nice that I had people to learn from. I’ve only done one other film. So I’m still learning, and I’m still very raw. So I loved that they were with me on the film, and I learned a lot from them, from how they work to how they process scenes. And I was taking notes!

SF: What kind of part would you like to play, to help further your career?
SG: I think I’m in a really crucial place right now. I’m in a transition period. I’ve gained an incredible audience, but at the same time, when they’re putting together a Leonardo DiCaprio movie, they’re not thinking of Selena Gomez. And I understand that. And that’s actually good for me, because I’m able to start from the bottom and gain respect. So I just want to choose roles that really help display what I can do, but at the same time keep that audience that has given me my job. So it’s all about baby steps, I think.

SF: How has the transition been? Have you looked to anyone else who’s made that transition successfully?
SG: Yes and no. I’m terrified! I could easily never work again. My favorite actress is Rachel McAdams. I think she’s so beautiful, and so classy. And I’d love to do the type of roles that she’s chosen. But I’m kind of taking it day by day.

SF: In the film, you play a small town girl who gets to take on the life of someone bigger and more famous. Is there ever a time you wish you could reverse that?
SG: No. Because that would be saying that I wish I didn’t have everything that I have. Sometimes it gets really hard, with everybody constantly wanting to invade certain parts of my life that I don’t want to share, or that I don’t understand. But at the end of the day, I get to do what I love, and that’s what’s important.

SF: The film is, in part, an homage to those mid-century romances. It borrows plot and music and graphical elements from that era. There’s the clip of Grace Kelly, and then your character is named Grace. Did you look to some of those movies for research?
SG: To Catch a Thief is actually a film that Tom had us all watch. And there are definitely influences from that film that show up in this film. But another actress that I’ve always loved and looked up to is Judy Garland. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is the first song I ever sang for an audience. So yes, I definitely used a lot of those influences.

SF: How was it working with Cory Monteith from Glee? Did he ever break out into song?
SG: No, but Leighton and I would break out into song, and he’d beg us to shut up! Cory was awesome. Very charismatic. And he added such a cute, quirky element to his character. He had to have a Southern accent, which was so cute because he’s Canadian and it was very weird for him. But he was really sweet and nice, a real gentleman.

SF: What was your favorite scene to film?
SG: The scene with Katie, where I crawl into bed with her. It was really fun, and a really sweet moment. That’s where I think I really connected with Katie in the film.

SF: When you’re eighty years old and retiring, what do you want to look back on your career and see?
SG: I want to see that I’ve made projects that affected people in a good way. And I really hope, that I have, maybe, an Oscar? That would be nice.

'Monte Carlo' is in theaters July 1, 2011.

Peter Oberth
Interview by Peter Oberth
Follow him @ Twitter