Selena Gomez says rewatching parts of her new documentary about her life and career “broke my heart” but that they were “important to share”.
The singer and actress said she wished she “could have hugged that version of myself” and hoped the film opened up conversations about mental health and loneliness.
It comes ahead of the release of the “uniquely raw and intimate” Apple TV+ documentary, titled My Mind And Me which charts her six-year rise to fame and addresses the difficulty of the scrutiny caused by it and her long, on-off relationship with Justin Bieber.
Speaking at the premiere of the film, she told US publication Variety: “Being able to see that version of myself and watching that back broke my heart, to know that I was ever that girl.
Today is the World Premiere of Selena Gomez: #MyMindAndMe, at @AFIFEST. I’m thrilled to share a special gift to my fans of a 2 month free trial of @AppleTVPlus. Stream the film on Nov 4: https://t.co/ipG1TXPEn5 pic.twitter.com/Wy9xvvH6sf
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) November 3, 2022
“I just wish I could have hugged that version of myself but I feel like it was important to share it because I did want people to start talking about this.
“Hopefully, after the pandemic if people are feeling these lonely feelings and not understanding, I just hope it opens people up.”
She added that she did not think the documentary would open her up to “more scrutiny”, having started her career as a child star on the Disney Channel.
“I think by me being more transparent and honest about what I walked through, there’s nothing that they can say that will honestly affect me,” she told Variety.
“I am who I am and everyone is about to see it.”
Releasing trailers for the documentary previously, Gomez said she and her mind “don’t get along sometimes”. She wrote on social media: “My Mind And Me. We don’t get along sometimes and it gets hard to breathe… But I wouldn’t change my life.”
Aside from her acting, Gomez has sold more than 210 million singles worldwide and amassed over 45 billion global streams of her music.
She said she would “hopefully” release new music next year, following her last solo album Rare in 2020.
