On any red carpet, Selena Gomez is the picture of beauty, poise and confidence. But she’ll be the first to tell you that things aren’t always what they appear. For instance, her latest film: “Emilia Pérez.” Gomez co-stars as the wife of a powerful Mexican drug lord who secretly transitions. The film is a hard-hitting true crime story, a poignant love story, a journey of self-discovery – and a musical. But somehow it all works.

To watch a trailer for “Emilia Pérez” click on the video player below:

Gomez said shooting left her “a little sore” from all the dance numbers. So, why did she want to do it? “I found it incredibly compelling,” she said. “I’ve never really seen a movie like this before. I don’t think I’ve ever been this proud of something in the acting field.”

And that’s really saying something; at 32, Gomez has a lot to be proud of: She’s an accomplished actor, but she’s also a very successful singer-songwriter, and thanks to her wildly popular Rare Beauty line of cosmetics, she’s a billionaire, and a very active philanthropist. It’s all quite impressive, and even more so when you realize where she started.

Gomez was born in the Texas town of Grand Prairie. Her mom, Mandy Teefy, was only 16 years old. Selena’s parents split when she was five. She says the family had a lot of love, and not much else, with tough times when her mother struggled to put food on the table. “My mom worked multiple jobs,” she said. “She also was finishing high school when she was having me. When I’m doing something great today, it just makes me more thankful for the lessons that my mother taught me.”

Gomez was barely 10 when she landed a part on TV’s “Barney & Friends,” and a few years later she became a fixture on the Disney Channel, on such shows as “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

She branched out into music, and became a pop sensation. And when the pandemic came, she switched gears again, hosting “Selena + Chef,” a popular online cooking show shot in the kitchen of her L.A. home. “We had cameras everywhere, from every aspect of it,” she said.

And how are her cooking skills now? “They’re not that great, I’m not gonna lie!” she laughed.

And then, in 2021 she helped cook up one of the biggest hits on TV: “Only Murders in the Building.” She praised her co-stars, Steve Martin and Martin Short: “These men, Steve and Martin, have been working longer than I’ve been alive, but they are the first ones to be on set. They take time to ask everyone they run into how their day is. And on top of it, they think everything through. They are wonderful people, and they’ve helped me grow up in a lot of ways. These guys have become my friends and allies and people I can ask advice from. I couldn’t be more grateful to work with them.”

Gomez is the first to admit that she’s had a magical life, and that it hasn’t always been a bed of roses. She’s been open about her health struggles, like having lupus and receiving a kidney transplant.

She also decided to take her struggles with anxiety and depression, and her bipolar diagnosis, public. Her 2022 documentary, “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me,” is an unvarnished look at her life – the highs and the very deep lows.

She admits she was a little nervous about sharing it with the world but, “once I released it, it felt like a huge relief, because I am a firm believer that one of the strongest things you can do is be vulnerable. And that doesn’t mean you have to pour your heart out to everyone. But I made that choice, because I knew I wasn’t the only one that felt that way. And if my world was already out there for everyone to see, I’d like to tell my part of the story. And to add on that, it’s a dream what I’m doing.”

Part of what her dream is was a benefit held last month for her Rare Impact Fund, a charity aimed at helping young people who suffer from the same mental health challenges she’s been through. “This is probably the most important thing to me, besides my family,” she said. “This is the cherry on top of everything.”

Another high point is her relationship with music producer Benny Blanco, whom People Magazine named one of the sexiest men alive. “Yeah, that’s my man!” Gomez said. “To know that there is someone in the world that deeply cares about every tiny detail about who I am, I’m really, really lucky.”

It’s clear from “Emilia Pérez” that she’s an artist who likes to take risks. But Selena Gomez’s gutsiest move has been sharing her real self, and that has made all the difference. 

I asked, “The reaction in general has been overwhelmingly positive, hasn’t it?”

“Sure. Maybe,” Gomez replied.

Maybe?  “It’s not that I really need anyone’s approval,” she added. “I think I’m just really, I’m okay with where I am and who I am. And I’m glad. I’m glad that I finally got there.”

      
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Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler. 

Tracy Smith

Tracy Smith is an award-winning correspondent for “CBS News Sunday Morning” and “48 Hours,” who joined CBS News in 2000. Smith has covered a wide range of subjects, producing revealing interviews with news-making artists to moving, in-depth reporting.