Starring in a Disney Channel original series or movie was just the beginning of an extraordinary career for many young actors.
Celebrities who started their careers on Disney Channel have gone on to star in blockbuster films, sell out stadiums around the world and create business empires.
Below are several high-profile celebrities and the Disney shows they’ve worked on.
Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez are just two of two stars whose careers took off after their Disney Channel stints. (Disney Channel/Joel Warren and Eric McCandless/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
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- Selena Gomez
- Ryan Gosling
- Zac Efron
- Demi Lovato
- Zendaya
- Miley Cyrus
1. Selena Gomez
The early days of Selena Gomez’s career were spent on Disney sets.
Gomez’s very first role wasn’t on the Disney Channel. She was one of the kids on “Barney.”
In 2007, Selena Gomez took on the role of Alex Russo in the Disney Channel television series “Wizards of Waverly Place.” The series focuses on an unusual family with three children who have magical powers.
In addition to the regular episodes of the series that aired until 2012, there were also a number of Disney Channel crossover episodes, such as one featuring the cast of “The Suite Life on Deck” and “Hannah Montana,” titled “Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana.” The cast of “Wizards of Waverly Place” was also the focus of a television movie starring the Russo family.
Selena Gomez played a teenage wizard in the Disney series “Wizards of Waverly Place.” (Eric McCandless/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
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In addition to starring in “Wizards of Waverly Place,” Gomez has also starred in other Disney series and films, including “Hannah Montana,” “Princess Protection Program” and “The Suite Life on Deck.”
Gomez also began releasing her own music.
After “Wizards of Waverly Place” wrapped filming, Gomez continued to star in television series and films, including “Spring Breakers,” “Hotel Transylvania” and “Only Murders in the Building,” but she also focused on her music and business.
Gomez has released many hit songs over the years, including “Lose You To Love Me” and “Wolves.”
She is also the founder of the makeup brand Rare Beauty, launched in 2020.
Selena Gomez and David Henrie are returning to their wizarding days for a reboot of their popular Disney show. (Eric McCandless/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
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Despite her success, Selena Gomez hasn’t completely left her Disney Channel days behind. She’ll be part of a reboot of “Wizards of Waverly Place.”
2. Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling is known for his roles in popular films like “The Notebook” and “La La Land,” but did you know he also worked for Disney early in his career?
When Gosling was young, he was a member of the “Mickey Mouse Club.”
Before the series aired on the Disney Channel, it debuted in 1955 and aired for four seasons on ABC.
Gosling was a member of the “All-New Mickey Mouse Club,” which aired on Disney Channel from 1989 to 1996.
Before “The Notebook,” Ryan Gosling was a child actor on a Disney Channel series. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Gosling was just one of many stars who appeared on the Disney series. Others included Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
3. Zac Efron
Zac Efron’s career took off after his appearance in the Disney Channel Original Movie “High School Musical.”
Efron played Troy Bolton, a high school basketball star who also discovered a passion for acting in the original 2006 film, “High School Musical 2” in 2007 and “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” in 2008.
Many other stars of these films, such as Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, found success after the release of these popular films with catchy songs.
After his “High School Musical” years, Efron starred in films like “17 Again,” “Charlie St. Cloud,” “The Lucky One” and “Baywatch.”
Ashley Tisdale, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens were three of the many young stars who emerged from the “High School Musical” films. (Kenny Crookston/Getty Images)
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Efron once again tapped into his singing and dancing talents for the 2017 film “The Greatest Showman,” in which he starred alongside Hugh Jackman and fellow Disney star Zendaya.
4. Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato, like Gomez, first appeared on “Barney” when she was 6 years old, before her Disney Channel debut.
One of the roles Lovato is widely known for on Disney Channel is as Mitchie Torres in “Camp Rock” and “Camp Rock 2.”
The films are full of memorable songs, like “This Is Me,” “We Rock” and “Gotta Find You.”
Both films take place at a summer camp, filled with music-loving campers. In both films, a famous fictional band, Connect 3, also attends the summer camp. In real life, the band is known as the Jonas Brothers.
Between the release of the two “Camp Rock” films, Lovato also starred in “Princess Protection Program” with Gomez and was the main character in the series “Sonny with a Chance” from 2009 to 2011.
Demi Lovato starred in both of Disney’s “Camp Rock” TV movies. (Ferdaus Shamim/WireImage)
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Lovato has had few film roles since her Disney Channel debut, but her music career has taken off with hits like “Confident,” “Heart Attack” and “I Love Me.”
Lovato has spoken about her acting career on several occasions.
“When I came into the industry at a young age, I guess I made a conscious decision: ‘Are you willing to sacrifice a normal childhood for your hopes and dreams?'” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“At Disney, you were instantly a role model, whether you liked it or not,” Lovato says. “And because the Disney Channel was so big at the time, there was also this unspoken pressure: If you made a mistake, you knew there were millions of people waiting to take your place.”
5. Zendaya
Zendaya has starred in many popular films over the years, including several Spider-Man movies, alongside her real-life love, Tom Holland. She has also starred in Malcolm & Marie, The Greatest Showman, and Dune.
Prior to that, Zendaya appeared on many different Disney Channel shows and also starred in her own.
In 2010, Zendaya starred as Rocky Blue in the Disney series “Shake It Up” with Bella Thorne. The two starred on the series until 2013.
During this time, Zendaya made appearances in “Good Luck Charlie” and “Ant Farm” and starred in the TV movie “Frenemies,” also with Thorne.
She also directed the Disney series “KC Undercover” from 2015 to 2018.
Zendaya has starred in two Disney Channel series, “Shake It Up” and “KC Undercover.” (Rick Rowell/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
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Although Zendaya spent many years on the Disney Channel, “Spider-Man” was one of the first major film roles she received.
When she first auditioned for “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Zendaya was unknown to producer Amy Pascal and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
“Neither one nor the other [Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige] “I didn’t know who she was,” Pascal admitted to Vogue.
“She wasn’t wearing any makeup and she was just dressed like a normal girl, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, she’s amazing. She has to be in the movie,’” Pascal said.
“Then we found out she was a very famous person and we felt really stupid.”
6. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus is now a star and gained popularity when she was young, acting and performing on stage under the name Hannah Montana.
Cyrus starred in the Disney Channel television series “Hannah Montana” from 2006 to 2011. In the series, she played a normal teenager, Miley Stewart, who was secretly the identity of the famous superstar, Hannah Montana.
Cyrus released several of her early hits under the name Montana and even performed as a headliner at sold-out shows.
After spending many years under the name Montana, she began releasing music under her own name and continued acting, including in the film “The Last Song” with Liam Hemsworth.
Miley Cyrus played a secret pop star in the Disney series “Hannah Montana.” (Joel Warren/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
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Cyrus adopted a much bolder look and underwent a rebranding as an adult.
Although she has spent many years seemingly away from her Disney days, she did appear at the D3 2024 Expo, where she was named the youngest Disney Legend.
At the ceremony, Lainey Wilson sang “The Best of Both Worlds,” the theme song from “Hannah Montana.”
In her speech, Cyrus spoke about auditioning for “Hannah Montana” at Disney’s Burbank offices, “where rumor has it they’re making us all Disney kids,” she joked.
“I certainly wasn’t created in a lab, but if I was, there must have been a bug in the system that caused it to malfunction between 2013 and 2016.”
The audience laughed and she added, “Sorry, Mickey!”
