This story about Selena Gomez and “Only Murders in the Building” first appeared in TheWrap Awards magazine’s comedy series issue.
Selena Gomez doesn’t stop. The actress and musician flew to Los Angeles from New York after wrapping production on the third season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” to see her family for a week before flying to Paris to begin filming “Emilia Perez”, a film by French director Jacques Audiard. In a fast-paced, game-changing hour with TheWrap, she does a beautiful photo shoot, interview, and video for an MTV Movie & TV Awards acceptance for Best Music Documentary for her emotionally raw look at her life, “Selena Gomez: My Mind & I”. Just days earlier, the 30-year-old was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cooking Series for “Selena + Chef,” Max’s cooking show of hers.
Its alot.
For those familiar with Gomez’s imperturbable character, Mabel Mora, on “Only Murders,” it won’t be surprising that she seems just as great under pressure in real life. After all, this is a woman who started out as a child star, morphed into a pop princess, and has become an accomplished artist (Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe nominees) who stands her ground against the odds. comedic legends Martin Short and Steve Martin on the comedy series for which she is an executive producer, but is also a tireless advocate for mental health awareness.
And yet, talking to Gomez for any length of time reveals the unique joy that “Only Murders” brings to her life, from working with Martin and Short, whom she describes as “some of my best friends,” to caring and craft pours. in the construction of Mabel as a character.
Selena Gomez doesn’t stop and, honestly, we wouldn’t want her to.
Production recently wrapped on season 3 of “Only Murders in the Building.” Can you talk a bit about the experience of filming?
I think when you’re part of a show that means a lot to people, there’s the pressure of wanting to make sure that you’re delivering your best, and if anything, you want to surpass what you’ve done. Which seems impossible to me, but the team of people that we have, from the writers, directors, and obviously Steve and Marty, constantly surprise me with the stories and the mystery of it all. I think this is our best season so far and I’m beyond excited. I had a great time and couldn’t believe the people I was working with.
When they’re trying to outdo themselves, it’s probably a smart move to bring in Meryl Streep.
Working with her, I guess for any actor, it takes your breath away to be around someone who is a part of history, who has paved the way for so many actresses and told so many powerful stories and is recognized for that. And she couldn’t have been more humble, more personable, more, simply, adorable. I do not know how to explain it. She was so sweet to everyone and on time and she never looked at her script. It was really inspiring.
Speaking of history, your co-stars have their own major entertainment stories. Was it intimidating to walk on set when the show started and go head to head with Steve Martin and Martin Short?
I remember when I was leaving Los Angeles to film the first season, I was worried that I would feel a little lonely because I would be on set and most of the time I would be with Steve and Marty, whom I had only met briefly on Zoom. And they were the sweetest and I was aware of their work, obviously not as much as I am now, but they were wonderful. And the moment I got to the set they made me feel included. They asked questions about my character and valued my opinion. Eventually they just took me under their wing and teased me and made me laugh and had words of wisdom when I needed them. All the fear of feeling like I would be alone is gone, and now they are my boys. I was watching videos of them and I got emotional because I was like, “Those are my guys.” Some of my best friends are 70 years old.
Do you think they were intimidated into working with you? After all, their achievements are incredible in their own right, and they attract an audience they might not otherwise have.
I’m not as cool as Steve Martin and Martin Short. I think, for me, I’m a newbie, I’m a baby. Still. I’m doing what I’m doing to the best of my ability. But these are icons and I don’t feel like they were that intimidated. The only thing they ever said to me was, “We thought you were going to be annoying and high maintenance.” So I guess that means I’m not those things if they like working with me.
Beyond acting on the series, you also serve as an executive producer. Has that responsibility allowed you more insight into Mabel’s development as a character?
Being an executive producer on this was a pleasant surprise. Because from the beginning, they were open to the idea of me being part of Mabel’s creation. When we first had a discussion about who she was, she had just come back from CrimeCon, which is basically a convention where we’re trying to help solve a real cold case. It’s a three day weekend and I went with my mom. And we ended up talking about all these different mystery stories and the idea of me being into (true crime) as a character. How would she dress me? How would you say that? And now, being a part of this, I can say, “I don’t feel like that sounds good.” Even up to certain scenes. There was one that I thought was a bit off. Like, we should do something different. Let’s try to make it funnier, let’s try to make it smarter. So I can do things like that. I trust these people as much as I can because look what they have created. You don’t want to mess up a perfect recipe, honestly.
In Season 2, there’s a delightful moment when Mabel and her dad watch The X-Files. Was that a reference you caught or was it a bit old for you?
My mom and I used to watch true crime shows all the time, so I was very aware of all these types of shows. It wasn’t so much about the incident as it was about the forensic analysis. I am interested in how people are able to solve things. And that’s also my job on the show.
Much of your early career was devoted to comedy. What was it like going back to that?
Working with Steve and Marty, I was terrified at first, but relieved that comedy was in my comfort zone. If anything, they have helped me improve my skills. I hope to be as funny as them one day. They are very talented at creating a situation out of nothing and making people laugh, and I deeply admire that. I guess comedy comes naturally to me, but it also helps give me more confidence to tackle other roles that can be very different.
Is there a lot of breakdown on the set? How often do you ruin takes with laughter?
If there’s a period on set that’s completely silent for more than 15 minutes, there’s a problem. Someone is not happy. We laugh constantly on set. And I think that comes from the top, which means that Steve and Marty really make sure that they come from a place of joy. They just want everyone to laugh. They get so happy when there’s a cameraman behind the camera who just moves their body because they can’t laugh out loud. It is the best feeling to make someone laugh. It really is. Is awesome. So they are constantly making jokes. I’m bothering them, they’re bothering me. Even in the morning, just walking to the hair and makeup, sometimes I just look at Steve and laugh. And then he’ll laugh because he knows I’m laughing at him just being him. It’s ridiculous. Both of us.
Let’s go back to season 2. There is a scene in the finale that I have to ask you about filming, which is the slow motion scene.
Oh my God.
In the scene, everyone in the room moves in slow motion to unnerve Cinda Canning (Tina Fey), who inexplicably dislikes him. Can you walk me through filming that scene?
The slow motion part seemed incredibly unnatural to me, so I struggled with it. And the reason is because I don’t feel like Mabel really cares about that. So I tried to interpret it as a character choice. And yeah, the first three or four takes, I couldn’t help but laugh. It took us a long time to shoot that scene because it was just hysterical. I mean, every take they were doing the weirdest things, and I was barely moving because I didn’t want to look like them. However, it was a lot of fun.
However, I think that’s the right character drive.
I think Mabel would think that was stupid.
She was probably just standing there thinking about her life choices.
“How did I end up here? How did I end up at this time?”
You have so many things to do all the time and so many things that matter to you. How do you find balance within your own life?
I don’t think the balance is consistent for me due to my lifestyle. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve understood that this is my job and this is what I want to do with my life, so I want to enjoy it. And I make time for the things that are important. This is the perfect example. I just finished my show and I’ll spend a week with my family and then I’ll go to Paris and then I’ll come back to them, but I’ll be working on my album at the same time. I just have to do it all. Right now, that’s how I work.
Maybe when I’m older, I’ll be different, but who I am, my work ethic, my life, is this: the hustle. And I get bored. I just want to do so many great things with so many amazing people.
Read more of the comedy series edition here.
