As a pastor's daughter who appears in music videos shooting whipped cream from her bra, Katy Perry understands that she presents a complicated front.

"I'm kind of a good girl—and I'm not," she said in this month's issue of Harper's Bazaar. "I'm a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity and respect. I'm a bad girl because I like to tease. I know that I have sex appeal in my deck of cards." Though she grew up in a small town, with her close-knit, religious family, she's also perfectly comfortable with her outrageous pop star persona.

Her relationship with comedian Russell Brand, who is a former sex and heroin addict, exemplifies her ability to balance her two sides. "I always knew I wanted a great man of God, someone who was going to be an inspiration for people and also be a lovely husband and father," she said of Brand. "We're at different places in our lives, but we can still grow together. He's thought-provoking, articulate, a real advocate. I also definitely wanted to have a laugh. I have all that in him."

Though they seem almost radically different, the two have had a starry romance ever since meeting in 2007, going so far as to inscribe their arms with matching tattoos that read, "Go with the flow." Perry even wrote a song about Brand called "Not Like The Movies," which she calls, "an encouragement to others," explaining, "they don't have to settle for anything besides spectacular."

She also encourages her fellow pop stars. "We're all unique. That's why we all win and we all can exist. People don't want just vanilla. They want 31 flavors," she said. "I couldn't do what Rihanna does. I couldn't do what Gaga does. They can't do what I do." –AMY LEE

Read more about:
UInterview

Article by UInterview

Leave a comment

Subscribe to the uInterview newsletter