Before ”Only Murders,’ Martin Short worried that Selena Gomez might be a “pop princess nightmare”

Selena Gomez has great onscreen chemistry with her two Only Murders in the Building co-stars, Martin Short and Steve Martin, and the three are pals offscreen as well. Before Short started working with Selena, however, he was concerned she’d be a “nightmare.”

Short, 73, was one of the guests at Selena’s October 4 benefit gala for her Rare Impact Fund, which raises money to provide mental health resources to young people. Speaking to People at the event, he said, “The first day we shot, I had never met Selena. Because of COVID, we’d only Zoomed. And I was driving to work and I thought, ‘I wonder what Selena’s could be like?’ I mean, she could be a nightmare. She could be a pop princess nightmare.”

But Short said he realized “right away, from the first second we started … it was, like, fabulous.” He noted Selena is “always on time, always knows her lines. So good, so talented, such a pro — it’s fabulous.”

At the gala, Selena spoke about how she was inspired to start the Rare Impact Fund by her own mental health journey, according to People. She told the crowd, “I struggled with the world inside my head for a long time and I felt lost and I felt hopeless at times.” 

“And in 2020, I received my diagnosis of bipolar disorder. And to be honest, everything quickly changed,” she continued. “I actually got the knowledge and the answers that I had been desperate for for so long … [and] I could seek out the support I needed to be myself, to find my joy again.”

She also said the fund is “probably the most important thing that I’ve ever done.”

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