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Selena Gomez discourages young fans from seeing 'Spring Breakers'

By KAREN BUTLER, United Press International
Selena Gomez arrives for Nickelodeon's 26th annual Kid's Choice Awards at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on March 23, 2013. UPI/Jim Ruymen
Selena Gomez arrives for Nickelodeon's 26th annual Kid's Choice Awards at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on March 23, 2013. UPI/Jim Ruymen | License Photo

TORONTO, March 29 (UPI) -- U.S. singer-actress Selena Gomez says she is proud of her new R-rated thriller "Spring Breakers," but hopes her young fans don't go to see it.

Written and directed by Harmony Korine, the film is about four college-age girls -- played by Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and Vanessa Hudgens -- who rob a fast-food restaurant to finance their beach holiday, then befriend a gangster, played by James Franco, who takes them further into the criminal underworld.

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Asked at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she was promoting the movie last September, if she has any message for her younger fans regarding "Spring Breakers," Gomez replied, "Don't see it.

"I wrote a message on my social networking site, saying kids my age, my generation, I think, they should see it because it's very real," the 20-year-old Texan told reporters at the TIFF press conference.

"We're not sugar-coating anything, but then I put underneath [the message,] 'It's rated R, so please don't see it if you're under 18.' I don't know. That's as much warning as I can give to the parents and the kids, but you can't control what kids do."

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Gomez, known for her roles in family-friendly flicks such as "Ramona and Beezus," "Monte Carlo" and "Hotel Transylvania," as well as TV's "The Wizards of Waverly Place," said she had been looking for a graceful way to make the transition from child star to young adult actress when "Spring Breakers" came along.

"When my series ended, I was really excited to start doing a couple of movies and I thought that doing the independent route would probably be best for me. And when Harmony mentioned my name and I read this script, I thought, 'If there is anybody that I'm going to take this risk on in doing the transition, it would be Harmony.' When I met with him, we met for like 2 hours, talking about the script and I think he really believed in me and, in a way, he took a chance putting me in this movie and it's been a really great experience. It's a hard transition, I think, but I'm having fun doing it, so, hopefully, people will accept it," Gomez explained.

"Spring Breakers" is in theaters now.

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