Selena Gomez on Being Taken Seriously as an Adult Actor: 'I Felt Like a Joke'

Selena Gomez is opening up about the struggle of growing out of her child stardom.

The almost 30-year-old actress and singer started her career off on Barney, and shot to stardom on the Disney Channel, but trying to be taken seriously as an actor wasn’t easy.

Since her Disney days, Selena has gone on to portray some more mature characters in movies like Spring Breakers, The Dead Don’t Die and The Fundamentals of Caring.

In a new interview, she dished on what it was like struggling to be a serious adult actor.

See what she said inside…

“I felt like it was very difficult for people to take me seriously,” she told THR’s Awards Chatter podcast “I have slowly pushed through that, and I’m really glad, but it was very frustrating. I felt like a joke, you know?”

Selena currently stars in the hit comedy Only Murders in the Building, her first TV role since Wizards of Waverly Place.

She’s also currently working on new music!

ICYMI: Selena and her OMITB co-star Martin Short stepped out for an event this past weekend.