Selena Gomez wasn’t always a big deal in Hollywood.
The Emmy-nominated actress, now known for playing Mabel in Only Murders in the Building and Jessi in Oscar-winner Emilia Pérez, still remembers her early days as a child actor looking for her big break.
“I was on three pilots for the Disney Channel,” Gomez said Wednesday on the Therapuss With Jake Shane podcast, after the host asked her about her excitement for being cast in her breakthrough role on the Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. “One was the spinoff of Lizzie McGuire, one was the spinoff of The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, and the last one was Wizards. So all of them didn’t get picked up, and I was just kind of at my wits’ end, but not in a bad way. I just thought, ‘Okay, well, this isn’t going to work out.'”
Eventually, however, Wizards was picked up.
Gomez, who was 15 during the first season of the comedy, had worked in Hollywood since she was a 10-year-old cast member of Barney & Friends (alongside a young Demi Lovato). But she soon realized that the show about a family of wizards wouldn’t be just another job for her.
“Wizards got picked up, and my whole life changed after that,” Gomez said. “It was an immediate feeling of, ‘Oh, I achieved my dream’ at that point in time.”
The original series aired for four seasons, from 2007 to 2012. A revival series Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, premiered in 2024. Gomez has appeared on two episodes of the show as her character, Alex Russo.
“I was such a huge fan of the channel. I was a huge fan of what they did for our generation, and it was an honor,” she said. “I wear it proudly. I definitely am not ashamed of being part of the Disney high school.”
In addition to Lovato, her “classmates” included fellow former child stars Zendaya, Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Keke Palmer, and Hilary Duff.
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And Gomez’s Wizards Beyond Waverly Place experience isn’t over yet. In addition to her cameos, she’s an executive producer of the series, which returns for its second season next month.
Two new episodes will air on the Disney Channel on Sept. 12, and the others will be available Oct. 8 on Disney+.
Watch the full conversation above.
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