Selena Gomez, who previously appeared on Wizards of Waverly Place, has stated that she was given a cigarette smoking class in preparation for her upcoming raunchy part in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers.

In the film, the 19-year-old former Disney star loses her squeaky-clean reputation to portray a reckless college student, but admits she needs some help embracing her dark side.

Gomez and her ‘Spring Breakers’ co-stars are featured in a highly sexual spread in the latest issue of Interview, and she confesses she was excited to take the job since it was so out of character and gave her the opportunity to let loose. “I’d never smoked a cigarette before in my entire life,” she explained. “It was really funny — they had to show me how to do it.”

She added, “I was getting kind of repetitive in terms of the roles I was picking, and I really wanted to do something that was completely different. It was a mark thing for me – like, ‘This is what I want to be doing.’ I want to be taking myself seriously as an actress…”

“This was definitely a stretch. I mean, I’d never smoked a cigarette before in my entire life. It was really funny – they had to show me how to do it.”

Spring Breakers, starring Vanessa Hudgens and James Franco, will be released in theaters next year.

The plot revolves on a group of stunning gal buddies who travel to Florida for Spring Break to party and end up in hot water when they run out of money and decide to rob a restaurant.

Last week, film reviewers in France gave the picture high marks, and glowing reviews have already flooded in.

One critic tweeted, “The best thing I’ve seen so far in Cannes!”

Meanwhile, Gomez will be seen in Adam Sandler’s Hotel Transylvania, which opens in theaters on October 12.