Selena Gomez Talks Paul Rudd Crush, ‘Dream’ Meryl Streep on ‘Kimmel’

Behind the social media fame, the songs, the movies, the red carpets and the philanthropy, Selena Gomez just wants to make her family proud.

Martin Short is part of that expanded family.

Gomez stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night (June 26) for a catch-up with Short, her co-star on Only Murders in the Building, that felt like old buddies picking up where they left off.

Gomez is, according to Short, never a second late on set, knows every line, a total pro.

Deflecting praise, she remarked, “I do what I can with what I have. And I’m so grateful. And I mean, my grandparents are here, I just want to make my family proud.”

The pop culture icon has a busy schedule. Having bagged the best actress award and a rousing standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival following a screening of Emilia Pérez, Gomez is looking ahead to a string of small screen projects. Among them, season four of Only Murders in the Building, which starts Aug. 27 on Hulu, and a reboot of Wizards of Waverly Place, for which she is on board as executive producer and appears in episode one.

“It brings me to tears because that is the beginning of where I started,” she says of the 2000s sitcom, “and to honor it in this way has truly been a blast.”

Gomez also confessed her crush on Paul Rudd, and the “dream” that was working with Meryl Streep on Only Murders. “As an actress you can only dream to work with someone as great as her,” she recounts “But she would just dally around as if she was just a part of our family. She would sing songs barefoot. And talk to everyone and…that was elegant to me. That was true class.”

Away from the spotlight, Gomez helms the Rare Beauty cosmetics brand, which has a commitment to raise awareness and increase access to mental health services for young people. Gomez, who explored her own mental health struggles in the Alek Keshishian-helmed documentary My Mind & Me, hopes to raise $100 million for good causes. “It’s got meaning and it’s practical,” she explains.

Short is guest host, standing-in (or rather, sitting) for Kimmel this week. Watch the interview below.