Disney stardom has created some epic successes- and fails. From Lindsay (jail, again) to Vanessa (naked pictures) to Britney (shaved head), preteen celebs all-grown up have become something to fear. There’s an important sense of reality that seems just out of reach when the going gets really good.
Regardless, there will always be famous kids. There’s a new generation of them shining through now. With luck, they will outclass the stereotypes that precede them, starting with Selena Gomez.
Selena Gomez has lived her life in front of cameras since acting in Barney & Friends at seven years old. Now nearly nineteen, she’s most famously known as the cool, sleuthy, high-schooling Alex Russo from The Wizards of Waverly Place. This year will be the show’s final season, which means a new stage for this celeb.
She keeps up the fierce duality of acting and music like a star of today’s standards. Beyond shooting her series finale and a new movie, preparing to tour for her third album, releasing a clothing line, reportedly dating Justin Beiber, and just being young, Selena has found a philanthropic alliance with UNICEF that seems to benefit them both. ”Whenever I explain to people about going on my trip, I always end up saying that I left Africa gaining more than I did for those kids because I felt incredibly humble,” she says as we discuss the Celebrity Tap Project, a program that focuses on the lifesaving importance of clean water worldwide.
It turns out Selena has more balance than you’d expect from a fame-bearing teenager. She’s comfortable with acknowledging that she doesn’t know everything, but can admit that she has a lot. There’s humility that comes with her wide-eyed hope for a more caring youth that makes it clear why UNICEF chose her to be their youngest brand ambassador to date.
What exactly does it mean to be a UNICEF brand ambassador?
They are basically using my voice and my platform to educate kids. I’m able to take trips with them. I’m able to be educated on what they’re doing. the next step of making the number zero from having 14,000 children die a day from preventable causes. That’s why I was one of the first people to become part of the Tap Project this year.
They are basically using my voice and my platform to educate kids. I’m able to take trips with them. I’m able to be educated on what they’re doing. the next step of making the number zero from having 14,000 children die a day from preventable causes. That’s why I was one of the first people to become part of the Tap Project this year.
Does your philanthropy drive you to educate yourself more about what’s going on in the world?
Yes and no, the best thing about being a part of these things is that I don’t have to grow up. I’ve made videos on YouTube and I’ve talked to my fans about it- like i had an acoustic show for UNICEF a while back where I had fans come in and ask me questions about UNICEF and I was able to say, “look I don’t know a lot of the things that I want to learn and that’s what I’m trying to encourage everyone else to do”.
Yes and no, the best thing about being a part of these things is that I don’t have to grow up. I’ve made videos on YouTube and I’ve talked to my fans about it- like i had an acoustic show for UNICEF a while back where I had fans come in and ask me questions about UNICEF and I was able to say, “look I don’t know a lot of the things that I want to learn and that’s what I’m trying to encourage everyone else to do”.
I will be honest, when I went to Ghana, I had no idea what I was going to go see or what it was, I had no idea of any of it. I had my fans on twitter ask me what Ghana is like, “what’s Ghana”, or, “where’s Ghana”, and I was able to say, you guys can Google it, look it up, or do something. So its nice because I’m not 35 years old and I don’t know lot about all of the things that go on in the world. I’m able to grow up with my fans and able to grow up with UNICEF, having them trust me and know that I genuinely want to learn and that I genuinely want to know what’s going on.
Are these things you keep in mind when you make professional and entrepreneurial decisions?
I feel like my life is sometimes extremely superficial. And it makes that superficialness go away in my mind. Because I do love what i do and I do think that sometimes it can be very selfish and vain. I mean I’m in two hours of hair and makeup and walking red carpets and things like that. So i feel really really happy when I connect with UNICEF. With my clothing line, we did something for Trick or Treat. We did a UNICEF tshirt- we sold two tshirts and all the funds went to UNICEF. Its fun to kind of incorporate that in what I do.
I feel like my life is sometimes extremely superficial. And it makes that superficialness go away in my mind. Because I do love what i do and I do think that sometimes it can be very selfish and vain. I mean I’m in two hours of hair and makeup and walking red carpets and things like that. So i feel really really happy when I connect with UNICEF. With my clothing line, we did something for Trick or Treat. We did a UNICEF tshirt- we sold two tshirts and all the funds went to UNICEF. Its fun to kind of incorporate that in what I do.
What do you want your fans to walk away with as a result of those efforts?
I would hope that they just feel good about doing something good. And just want to be better to everybody. Not just to people in foreign countries that we dont know and are less fortunate than us but somebody, your neighbor, or someone down the street, or someone at school, something.
I would hope that they just feel good about doing something good. And just want to be better to everybody. Not just to people in foreign countries that we dont know and are less fortunate than us but somebody, your neighbor, or someone down the street, or someone at school, something.
Things your friends are doing are leaning towards philanthropy, too. Taylor Swift is also part of this program, and it seems like you are pretty good friends.
Yea, I’m so stoked that she is on, I love her. I think that’s what it’s about, obviously sharing it with everybody. I met a girl who was twelve years old and she and her friends raised $3,000 for UNICEF because she read in a magazine that I was working with them. That blew my mind. She did car washes, she did things at her school. That does feel incredible and I hope that continues.
Yea, I’m so stoked that she is on, I love her. I think that’s what it’s about, obviously sharing it with everybody. I met a girl who was twelve years old and she and her friends raised $3,000 for UNICEF because she read in a magazine that I was working with them. That blew my mind. She did car washes, she did things at her school. That does feel incredible and I hope that continues.
I read something about Justin Beiber asking his fans to donate to a clean water program for his birthday.
See that’s what I love. That’s definitely something that is really cool to have a part of anybody not just him, but everyone.
See that’s what I love. That’s definitely something that is really cool to have a part of anybody not just him, but everyone.
Here is Selena’s Tap Project commercial!!
Proud to be a Selenator
Love and Peace Always
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