LOS ANGELES (AP) - "A little awkward" is how Selena Gomez describes her transition from Disney girl to Disney girl gone wild in the new R-rated independent film "Spring Breakers," in which she plays a bikini-clad and heavily armed college student bent on a good time with three friends and some drugs, sex and violence.
"I am getting a little bit older, so I wanted to push myself and kind of get into a little bit more of an indie world. And it was a really great experience for me. And at the same time it has been, of course, a little awkward, but great," the 20-year-old Gomez said Thursday at the film's Hollywood premiere.
Known for her role on Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place," Gomez actually began moving to a faster track as Justin Bieber's now ex-girlfriend. "Honestly, it's been a weird transition. You never really know what's right or wrong and you can only do the best you can," she said.
Directed by art-house favorite Harmony Korine and also starring James Franco and Vanessa Hudgens of Disney's "High School Musical" fame, "Spring Breakers" follows four young women on a Florida coast vacation romp they financed with a diner robbery.
Some of Gomez's young fans were gathered outside the ArcLight Theatre hoping to catch a glimpse of the star. But she warned them not to go inside.
"I think they're really here to see me. I don't think they're here to see the movie," she said. "This was a little bit different. So yes, they shouldn't go see this."
Gomez is also getting attention these days for her own recent reactions to her split with Bieber. A breakup song from her new album called "Rule The World" just leaked on the Internet. "Our love was made to rule the world. You came and broke the perfect girl," she sings.
Commenting on the song, Gomez would only say, "That's not my first single. But it was a song I recorded. But you'll get to know my album a little bit soon - sooner than later."