Selena Gomez is ready to share her story.
In her new documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, the singer, 30, details her journey with her physical and mental health. Reflecting on her life in 2016, when the film begins, Gomez revealed what she'd tell herself during that time.
"Well first I would probably give myself a hug," she exclusively told E! News correspondent Francesca Amiker at the film's world premiere at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles Nov. 2. "I can't believe I was talking that way about my body and feeling those feelings. Of course, we all naturally feel physicality and we get the pressures of that. But I just felt bad."
The documentary kicks off with Gomez preparing for a show from her 2016 Revival World Tour. After performing more than 50 shows around the globe, the recording artist canceled the final legs of the tour to address the anxiety, panic attacks and depression she was experiencing following her 2014 lupus diagnosis and attended a mental health facility. In 2020, she shared that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Throughout the documentary, Gomez speaks honestly about her self-doubt, criticism of her body and past suicidal ideations. She also talks about her bipolar and lupus diagnoses, and viewers hear from her family and friends about what it was like for them to watch her journey.
Today, Gomez has love for herself. "I found having a relationship with bipolar and myself, it's going to be there," she said at one point in the documentary. "I'm just making it my friend now. I think I needed to go through that to be who I am, and I am going to keep going through it, but I'm really happy. I'm at peace. I'm angry. I'm sad. I'm competent. I'm full of doubt. I'm a work in progress. I am enough. I am Selena."
And looking ahead 10 years after 2016, Gomez also has a message for her future self. "I say to the person in 2026," she told E! News, "'Girl, hopefully you got something right and you're living your life.'"
Of course, Gomez has already achieved a lot both personally and professionally. "I think personally," she noted, "I'm really proud of the fact that I've been able to take ownership of my relationship with my mental health, and I feel aware and I feel like I can make decisions really clearly."
And while the Grammy-nominated star—who in addition to her music career has a beauty empire and hit TV show—said this documentary is a professional "highlight for sure," she also said going to the White House in May to talk about mental health "was really amazing."
Her future goals? "Tackling on season three of Only Murders," she said, "and my music."
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me debuts on Apple TV+ Nov. 4