Selena Gomez on acting: 'I haven't touched the surface of what I'm able to do'

Selena Gomez is excited to explore her talents as an actress, as she thinks she's only just scratching the surface of her capabilities.

The 23-year-old started out on kids' TV shows Wizards of Waverly Place and Barney & Friends, but in recent years she has mainly focused on her pop music career.

However, that is all set to change with a role in Neighbors 2 and indie film The Fundamentals of Caring, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this week (begs25Jan16), and Selena is looking forward to evolving as an actress.

"I think there's a lot for me to explore," she told Variety. "I'm in a place with my music where I've gone through this transition and I feel with this album (Revival) I've been able to grow as an artist. But I feel like in acting, I haven't touched the surface of what I'm able to do. I hope I can continue to grow and get better. I know that's going to take a lot of time, especially if music continues to do what it does."

Selena plays a hitchhiker in The Fundamentals of Caring, alongside Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts, but she admits she had to fight hard to get the part because of the preconceived ideas people can have of her.

"My manager sent me the script and I completely fell in love with the script and said I want to audition," she recalled. "She said, 'I mentioned your name and I'm trying to do this surprise situation, so you can go in and nobody knows that it's you.' So Rob (Burnett, the director) didn't know who he was going to meet.

"I knew it would be difficult for him to see me in that role. He had a lot of hesitation. I auditioned two more times after that. It was one of the parts that I fought for. I knew other people were reading for it. So it feels good to feel like I earned it."

Selena knows her personal life, particularly her on/off relationship with fellow singer Justin Bieber, has often taken the focus away from her career, but she isn't going to stop chasing her goals because of the unwanted tabloid attention she receives.

"My intention was always to be an actress and a singer," she explained. "Unfortunately, it just kind of got clouded. I never really wanted to be on tabloids or anything like that. I think it's wonderful now. I've been able to build my platform up because of who I am on the inside and just doing what I love, which is film, which is music. I'm not oblivious to that being the road bump. But I'm also prepared to keep fighting through it."