Selena Gomez Defies Gravity for Harper’s Bazaar US’ March Cover Shoot

Slay Queens are you taking notes?

Being the most followed person on Instagram comes with a number of perks. Selena Gomez is the cover star of Harper’s Bazaar US’ March issue where she poses for famed photographer Alexi Lubomirski in a gravity-defying shoot. In the interview she discusses her relationship with Instagram, coming famous as a teenager and her Mexican heritage.

In the shoot, she wore Coach all through as she’s the face of the luxury brand.

See excerpts

On becoming famous as a teenager

“I’ve spent probably too much time thinking about how my life could’ve been, so now I try to just have a sense of gratitude for how it is. I’ve never wanted to be the kind of person who’s like, “Oh, I wish I had a different life.” This is just kind of how it worked out for me. I’m at the point where I know the value of my privacy, and I understand how the system works, and once I realized and accepted that part of it I’ve become a little bit more fearless. I view it as a small price to pay for being able to have the life I have now.”

On her Mexican heritage

“Extremely. I look at myself in the mirror every day and think, “Man, I wish I knew more Spanish.” I’ll never forget when I was doing my TV show [Wizards of Waverly Place]; I think I was 15 or 16. We would do these live tapings every Friday, and one Friday there was this single mother with her four kids. She was Latin, and she came up to me after, crying. Her kids were so excited, but I noticed the mom, so I gave her a hug and asked, “Hey, are you okay?” And she was like, “It’s really incredible for my daughters to see that a Latina woman can be in this position and achieve her dreams, someone who isn’t the typical, you know, blonde with blue eyes.” And I knew what she meant. When I was younger my idol was Hilary Duff! I remember wanting blue eyes too. So I think I recognized then that it meant something to people. That it matters. Even recently I’ve experienced things with my dad that were racially charged. Most of the time, though, I try to separate my career from my culture because I don’t want people to judge me based on my looks when they have no idea who I am. And now more than ever, I’m proud of it. But I still need to learn Spanish. [Laughs]”

On her female role model

“Meryl Streep has always been one of my idols because of her elegance and ability to always be true to herself but play these incredibly complex, difficult characters. I love how she carries herself. I feel the same way about Grace VanderWaal, who’s, like, 14 years old. I was at the Billboard Women in Music Awards last year with all these incredible women, but she was just radiant. She had this knowledge and wisdom about her that I wanted for myself. Oh, and I really love Amal Clooney. I know that sounds weird, but I’ve read a lot about her. She’s just incredible, the way she speaks and what she fights for. I guess I’m a bit all over the place.”