Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place were the start of successful careers for their stars

Starring in a Disney Channel show or original movie is just the beginning of an extraordinary experience is the career of many young actors.

Celebrities who began their careers on the Disney Channel have gone on to become actors in hit movies, singers who have performed in stadiums around the world, and created business empires.

Here are some of the A-list stars and the Disney shows they’ve worked on.

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1. Selena Gomez
2. Ryan Gosling
3. Zac Efron
4. Demi Lovato
5. Zendaya
6. Miley Cyrus

1. Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez spent the early years of her career on the Disney set.

Gomez’s first role wasn’t on the Disney Channel. She was one of the kids on “Barney.”

In 2007, Gomez played Alex Russo in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, which is about an unusual family with three children who have magical powers.

In addition to the regular series that aired before 2012, there have been several Disney Channel crossover series, such as one featuring the cast of Postman and Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana’s Postman. The Wizards of Waverly Place cast was also the subject of a TV movie featuring the Russell family.

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exist The Wizard of Young Magic Gomez has also appeared in other Disney shows and movies, including “Hannah Montana,” “Princess Protection Program” and “Zack and the Prime Cruise Life.”

Gomez also began releasing her own music.

After Wizards of Waverly Place wrapped, Gomez continued to star in TV shows and movies like Spring Breakers, Hotel Transylvania and The Tower, but she also focused on her music and career.

Gomez has released many hits over the years, including “Lose You To Love Me” and “Wolves.”

She is also the founder of Rare Beauty, a makeup brand launched in 2020.

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Despite her success, Gomez hasn’t completely forgotten her time on the Disney Channel. She’s set to star in the remake of Wizards of Waverly Place.

2. Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling is known for his roles in hit movies Most similar movies to The Notebook and La La Land, but did you know he also worked at Disney earlier in his career?

Gosling was a member of the “Mickey Mouse Club” when he was young.

The show premiered in 1955 and ran for four seasons on ABC before it aired on the Disney Channel.

Gosling was a member of “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club,” which aired on the Disney Channel from 1989 to 1996.

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Gosling is just one of many stars who will appear in the Disney series, which also stars Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

3. Zac Efron

Zac Efron’s career took off after appearing on Disney Channel The original movie High School Musical.

Efron plays Troy Bolton, a high school basketball star who also discovers his love for theater in the first film in 2006, 2007’s High School Musical 2 and 2008’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Many other stars from these movies, like Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, found success after the release of these hit movies with catchy songs.

After his role in High School Musical, Efron appeared in films such as 17 Again, Charlie’s Angels, Lucky Charms and Baywatch.

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Efron once again showed off his singing and dancing talents in the 2017 film The Greatest Showman, in which he co-starred with Hugh Jackman and fellow Disney alum Zendaya.

4. Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato, Like Gomez, she first appeared on Barney at age 6, before she appeared on the Disney Channel.

One of the roles that Lovato is widely remembered for on the Disney Channel is playing Mickey Torres on Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2.

The movie is filled with memorable songs like “This Is Me,” “We Rock,” and “Gotta Find You.”

Both movies are set at summer camps filled with campers who love music. In both movies, a famous fictional band called Connect 3 also attends the camps. In real life, the band’s name is the Jonas Brothers.

In between the release of the two Camp Rock movies, Lovato also starred in Princess Protection Program with Gomez and had a starring role in the TV series Sonny With a Chance from 2009 to 2011.

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Lovato Since she started appearing on Disney Channel A few days later, her music career officially took off with hits like “Confident,” “Heart Attack” and “I Love Me.”

Lovato has spoken several times about her acting days as a young actress.

“When I got into this industry at a young age, I made a conscious decision, I thought, ‘Are you willing to sacrifice a normal childhood for your hopes and dreams?'” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

“At Disney, you’re immediately a role model, whether you like it or not,” Lovato explains. “And because the Disney Channel was so big at the time, there was also an unspoken pressure that if you did make a mistake, you knew there were millions of people waiting to take your place.”

5. Zendaya

Zendaya has starred in a number of hit movies over the years alongside her real-life love interest Tom Holland, including several Spider-Man films. She has also appeared in Malcolm & Marie, The Greatest Showman and Dune.

Prior to this, Zendaya had appeared in a number of different Disney Channel shows, as well as starring in her own show.

In 2010, Zendaya played Rocky Blue alongside Bella Thorne on the Disney show Step Up. The two starred in the show until 2013.

During this time, Zendaya made cameo appearances in Good Luck Charlie and Ant Farm, and starred in the TV movie Frenemies alongside Thorne.

She also starred in the Disney show KC Undercover from 2015 to 2018.

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Although Zendaya has worked on the Disney Channel for many years, Spider-Man was one of the first major film roles she landed.

When she first Audition for Spider-Man: Homecoming The film’s producer Amy Pascal and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige were not familiar with Zendaya.

“Neither [Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige] I had no idea who she was either,” Pascal admitted to Vogue.

“She had no makeup on, she was just dressed like a normal girl, and we were like, ‘Oh my god, she’s amazing. She has to be in this movie,’ ” Pascal said.

“We later found out she was a very famous person and felt really stupid.”

6. Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus is a star now, but her popularity skyrocketed when she was younger, performing on stage as Hannah Montana.

Cyrus starred in the Disney Channel television show Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011. In the show, she played an ordinary teenager named Miley Stewart, who was the secret identity behind the famous superstar Hannah Montana.

Cyrus released many early hits as Montana and even performed as a star in sold-out shows.

After spending many years as Montana, she began releasing music under her own name and continued her acting career, most notably in the film The Last Song alongside Liam Hemsworth.

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As an adult, Cyrus took on an edgier look and went through a rebranding process.

Although she spent many years seemingly distancing herself from Disney Legends, she did appear at the 2024 D3 Expo and was named the youngest Disney Legend.

At the awards ceremony, Lenny Wilson sang “The Best of Both Worlds,” the theme song from the movie “Hannah Montana.”

During her speech, Cyrus talked about auditioning for “Hannah Montana” at Disney’s Burbank offices, “which, rumor has it, is where they created us Disney kids,” she joked.

“I was certainly not created in a lab, but if that was the case, there must have been a bug in the system that caused me to malfunction sometime between 2013 and 2016.”

The audience laughed, and she added: “Sorry, Mitch!”