Selena Gomez has been cast in Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, an indie drama about a gang of female college students who rob a restaurant to fund their holiday.

Gomez, who will star alongside James Franco, Emma Roberts and Vanessa Hudgens in the Gummo director's new film, compared the role to her past work by saying it was "raw and more about acting". "It's a different kind of vibe than people are used to seeing me in," she told MTV.com. The 19-year-old actor, who has also developed a music career with her pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene, came to prominence after starring in the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place. She has previously stuck to wholesome family films like Monte Carlo and 2010's Ramona and Beezus, based on the popular children's book.

Korine will write and direct the film. His last feature, Trash Humpers, was shot on VHS and revolved around a group of geriatrics who get their kicks from simulating sexual intercourse with rubbish bins. "That's why I named it Trash Humpers," said the director at the film's Toronto premiere. "I didn't want to fool anyone". The director is known for his choice of strange and difficult subject matter. 1995's Kids, which Korine co-wrote with director Larry Clark, followed the spread of the Aids virus in a community of high-school-aged kids, while 1997's Gummo covered child molestation and animal torture in its portrayal of life in small-town Ohio.

Gomez's casting echoes the hiring of a fellow tween favourite by another indie director. Taylor Lautner, known for his shirtless heroics in the Twilight movies, announced that he will be starring in Gus van Sant's new film last month.