Selena Gomez letting go of her Disney past

Selena Gomez has opened up about her Disney past. The ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ actress claims she no longer feels haunted by her Disney experience.

In Vanity Fair’s 2023 Hollywood issue, Gomez also explains how as a Disney star there were certain limits as to what she could and couldn’t say in public and more, and how her later career has been more liberating than her earlier experiences.

“I definitely feel free of it,” Gomez said about her Disney past.

“Sometimes I get triggered. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my past, it’s just that I’ve worked so hard to find my own way. I don’t want to be who I was. I want to be who I am.”

Disney limitations

Gomez goes on to claim that Disney “explicitly told” her not to say the phrase “What the hell?”.

“I wasn’t a wild child by any means, but I was on Disney, so I had to make sure not to say ‘What the hell?’ in front of anyone,” she explained.

Gomez has spoken about her role at Disney before. In August 2021 she made headlines for saying she “signed her life away to Disney at a very young age.”

Gomez was around 15 years old when she began acting on ‘Wizards of Waverly Place.’

“I signed my life away to Disney at a very young age and I didn’t know what I was doing,” she explained

She also admits she “acted like a kid” while working with Disney on ‘The Wizards of Waverly Place.’

“I was just running around on set,” she added.

Shortly after, Gomez clarified she is “beyond proud” of the work she did with Disney.

Gomez put pressure on herself

Gomez explained that she was putting pressure on herself to be “the best role model” she could be while starring in ‘Wizards of Waverly Place” from 2007 to 2012.

“Now I think being the best role model is being honest, even with the ugly and complicated parts of yourself,” she shared.

Gomez also clarified that she no longer worries that she will be “haunted by the idea that people would always associate” her with Disney, especially after her recent Apple TV+ documentary “My Mind and Me.”

‘My Mind and Me,” follows the singer during a six-year period of her career, documenting the singer’s struggle with fame, and her physical and mental health in the wake of her lupus and bipolar disorder diagnosis.