Biography

Selena Marie Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas to former stage actress Mandy Dawn Teefey (née Cornett) and Ricardo Joel Gomez. Her father is Mexican American and her mother is of half Italian descent. Her parents divorced when she was five years old, and she was raised as an only child by her working mother. In 2006, Mandy remarried Brian Teefey. She is named after Tejano singer Selena. In a 2009 interview with People, she mentioned that she developed an early interest in acting from watching her mother prepare for and act in theater productions. She earned a high school diploma through homeschooling in May 2010.

Selena began her acting career at age seven, playing Gianna on Barney & Friends. She later had minor roles in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and the TV film Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire. Selena also starred in the television movie Brain Zapped. In 2004, she was discovered by the Disney Channel in a USA-wide scouting. Selena appeared as a guest star on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and had a guest appearance – that later turned into a recurring role – on Hannah Montana from seasons two to three. She previously taped two different pilots that were spin-offs to two previous Disney series. The first one, What’s Stevie Thinking?, was the spin-off to Lizzie McGuire. Gomez played Stevie Sanchez, Miranda Sanchez’s little sister. The other show was titled Arwin!, the spin-off to The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she played Alexa. Neither series was picked up.

In early 2007, Selena was cast in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place as one of the three main characters, Alex Russo. The show premiered to an audience of 5.9 million, becoming a hit. Many news outlets began dubbing her the next ‘Miley Cyrus’ causing some controversy and a reported ‘feud.’ Selena clarified that there was no feud and that she was flattered by the comparison, saying: “It’s a little overwhelming, but I think really, it’s a compliment. She’s obviously extremely successful, and I think she’s a wonderful performer … So being compared to her, I was very, very flattered.”

In 2008, Gomez appeared in Another Cinderella Story, the direct-to-DVD sequel to the 2004 Hilary Duff film, opposite Drew Seeley. She also had a minor voiceover role as one the Mayor’s ninety-six daughters in Horton Hears a Who! which released in March of that year. In April, Lacey Rose, of Forbes ranked her as being fifth on their “Eight Hot Kid Stars To Watch” list; and Rose described Selena as having been “a multitalented teen”.

In 2008, Selena began working on her music career, first by covering the 101 Dalmations song “Cruella de Vil” for DisneyMania 6. She continued to record songs for Disney such as “Fly To Your Heart” for the movie Tinker Bell and a duet with her best friend, Demi Lovato, for Princess Protection Program called “One and The Same.” Selena also appeared in the song “Whoa Oh!” by Forever The Sickest Kids.

In early 2009, she formed the group Selena Gomez & The Scene and quickly released their first album Kiss & Tell on September 29th. The album was certified Gold six months later.

In June 2009, she did a guest appearance as herself in one episode of best friend Demi Lovato’s Disney Channel television show, Sonny with a Chance, entitled “Battle of The Network Stars”. That same month she appeared alongside Demi in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Princess Protection Program. The telecast garnered 8.5 million viewers becoming, at the time, the third most watched Disney Channel Original Movie. One month later, Selena, along with two cast members of Wizards of Waverly Place appeared in a television three-way cross-over episode with Hannah Montana and The Suite Life on Deck, entitled Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana.

Selena, then, starred in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the show. The film premiered to an audience of 11.4 million viewers becoming cable’s No. 1 scripted telecast of 2009 and Disney Channel’s second most-viewed film premiere after High School Musical 2. In 2010, the film adaptation won Wizards of Waverly Place its second consecutive Emmy for “Outstanding Children’s Program” at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards over its television series counterpart which had won in the same category at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards.

Selena released her second album A Year Without Rain on September 17, 2010 and debuted on the Billboard 200 at #4, selling 66,000 copies. On January 19, 2011, the album was certified Gold by RIAA.

Her first theatrical film Ramona & Beezus premiered on July 23, 2010 and met with generally positive reviews. In March 2010, Variety reported that Gomez was set to star as one of the three lead roles in Monte Carlo, alongside Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy. In the film she plays Grace, a girl who’s “mistaken for a socialite while on a trip to Paris.” To prepare for the role Gomez learned how to play polo and also took two weeks of vocal training to learn two different British accents. The same year, Selena confirmed that the fourth season of her hit Disney Channel show, Wizards of Waverly Place, would be its last.

When The Sun Goes Down (previously titled Otherside) was released June 28, 2011, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200, selling 78,000 copies, then rising to #3 the next week. The album’s lead single, “Who Says” was certified Platinum by RIAA on June 23, 2011 and has become the band’s highest charting song on Billboard to date peaking at #21.

In the past few years, Selena has become a philanthropist and entrepreneur, becoming a supporter of UNICEF and later became the youngest ambassador for the organization when she was seventeen. She was apart of Sears’ back-to-school ad campaign and later began her own clothing line entitled “Dream Out Loud by Selena Gomez” for K-Mart.