Bill Murray praises Selena

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Bill Murray

Bill Murray has become a big fan of his new movie co-star Selena Gomez.

The Ghostbusters icon worked with Selena on Jim Jarmusch's new zombie movie The Dead Don't Die, which opened the Cannes Film Festival in France on Tuesday, and he was really impressed with the way she acted both on and off camera.

"I really like her," Murray told Vanity Fair. "I mean, you still can't tell me who the hell Selena Gomez (the pop star) is - but Gomez I really like. She's unusually bright. She's kind and she's natural."

The 68 year old went on to compare Selena to fellow former child star Miley Cyrus, whom he befriended while working together on his festive 2015 comedy special, A Very Murray Christmas.

"I'm always pleased to find some kind of pop icon who I really like. Like Miley Cyrus," he smiled. "I dig that chick."

Applauding how they had "triumphed over" the pitfalls of child stardom, he added, "(They) survived whatever kind of family situation they had, too, which can also be challenging.

"They're really their own people. They have enormous followings, and they are sort of singing their own songs. Which is cool."

Murray also respects the way Selena, 26, has handled becoming a role model for impressionable fans, something he heard all about from Jarmusch.

"He said she is very wonderful talking to young girls about how you don't have to be skinny - you can eat whatever you want," Murray shared. "She doesn't worry about her figure or anything. She's not in the gym. She doesn't have a trainer. She's not vain in that way. And I thought, 'That's really attractive - to see someone who's not vain about their body.'"

Murray's comments emerge a day after Selena continued to raise concerns about the impact of social media on young fans, insisting the rise in popularity of platforms like Facebook and Instagram has been "terrible" for her generation.