Selena Gomez is making one of her boldest career moves yet, taking on a provocative new film that marks a significant departure from her Disney Channel origins. The 33-year-old actress, best known for her role in Wizards of Waverly Place, is reportedly attached to director Brady Corbet's upcoming project, an ambitious X-rated feature, according to Variety.
An Ambitious Project
Corbet, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind The Brutalist, is assembling an A-list cast that includes Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. Blanchett hinted at the collaboration at the Cannes Film Festival, stating she is 'about to work with Brady Corbet on a film,' while Fassbender's involvement was revealed earlier, per the outlet.
The project, rumored to be titled The Origin of the World, is set largely in the 1970s. Corbet previously teased its 'X-rated content' in a 2025 interview and suggested the film could run around four hours, with a script of roughly 200 pages, as he revealed at the Storyhouse Screenwriting Festival in Dublin.
Pushing Boundaries
For context, Corbet's The Brutalist already garnered attention with a 165-page script and a three-and-a-half-hour runtime, but this new project pushes further. 'The film spans from the 19th century into the present day—it’s just predominantly focused on the ’70s. The film is really, really genre-defying,' Corbet said in 2025, per Variety.
The production is reportedly being shot using rare eight-perf 65mm cameras, underscoring its ambitious scale. This will be Corbet's fourth feature as a director, following The Childhood of a Leader, Vox Lux, and The Brutalist. He continues to collaborate with Mona Fastvold, producing her film The Testament of Ann Lee.
Selena Gomez's Evolution
The edgy role may not surprise fans who have watched Gomez distance herself from her Disney image. In 2023, the Only Murders in the Building star said she felt liberated from the pressure of growing up under the Disney spotlight. 'I definitely feel free of it,' she told Variety. 'Sometimes I get triggered. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my past, it’s just that I’ve worked so hard to find my own way. I don’t want to be who I was. I want to be who I am.'
She acknowledged strict expectations during her child-star years, particularly regarding her public image. 'Of course. I wasn’t a wild child by any means, but I was on Disney, so I had to make sure not to say "What the hell?" in front of anyone,' she explained. 'It’s stuff that I was also putting on myself to be the best role model I could be. Now I think being the best role model is being honest, even with the ugly and complicated parts of yourself.'
Gomez further embraced honesty in her 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, where she opened up about mental health struggles and fears of judgment. 'Now I don’t feel like I’m lying to people,' she said. 'It’s not that I was lying…I was scared of what people would think or that people wouldn’t hire me. Now I don’t think that way. I understand that if it doesn’t feel good to me, then I need to step back and evaluate. Is this friendship giving me something? Is this project a really good one?'
Personal Life in the Spotlight
The casting news comes days after Gomez's husband Benny Blanco faced personal questions about their relationship. On his podcast Friends Keep Secrets, co-host David 'Lil Dicky' Burd pressed Blanco about the couple's sex life. 'I'm not allowed to talk about that publicly,' Blanco replied awkwardly. 'Oh, she made you sign one?' Burd joked, suggesting a non-disclosure agreement. 'No. I'm just, like, a gentleman,' Blanco insisted. 'Kinda just, like, a thing I do. I'm a gentleman or something. I don't know.'
