Selena Marie Gomez born on July 22, the 22nd of July, 1992) is an American actor, singer and producer. Gomez first began acting with the popular children’s TV show Barney & Friends (2002-2004). When she was a teenager she became famous for her role as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel television show Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-2012). In addition to her TV career, Gomez appeared in the films Another Cinderella Story (2008), Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), Ramona and Beezus (2010), Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), and The Dead Don’t Die (2019) and as Mavis as Mavis in The Dead Don’t Die (2019). Hotel Transylvania film franchise (2012-2022).
Gomez is the executive producer of Netflix TV series 13 Reasons Why (2017-2020) and Living Undocumented (2019) through her production company, July Moon Productions. In addition, she is the executive producer and is a star on Selena + Chef, the HBO Max cooking series Selena + Chef (2020-present) as well as the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building (2021-present). The latter has earned Gomez not only praise from critics but also nominations for an Golden Globe Award, and as a producer as well as an Primetime Emmy Award .
Gomez recorded three albums in her former band Selena Gomez & the Scene All of them made it to the top ten on the US Billboard 200 and were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA): Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010) and Sun goes down (2011). The album she released as her solo debut, Stars Dance (2013) it topped the U.S. Billboard 200, while its leading track, “Come & Get It” made it to the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100. Gomez’s second studio album, Revival (2015) was released at the top of the charts in the US and received platinum certification from the RIAA and was followed by three US top ten hits: “Good for You”, “Same Old Love”, “Hands to Myself”. The third album of her studio, Rare (2020), has been her third consecutive number one album in the US and featured the lead track, “Lose You to Love Me” was her first top-ten hit song within both the US as well as Canada. In 2021, she debuted the EP in Spanish Revelacion and was nominated to Grammy Award. Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album.
She has been honored with numerous awards including being named by Billboard’s Women of the Year in 2017 She has also broken fifteen Guinness World Records. Time magazine named her one of the top 100 influential people around the globe in 2020. She has a huge following on social media and is also the most popular actress and musician on Instagram. Her other ventures include clothing, makeup perfume, handbags and fragrance brands. She has collaborated with numerous charitable organizations and has served as an UNICEF ambassador since she was 17 years old.
Early life
Selena Marie Gomez was born on the 22nd of July 1992 at Grand Prairie, Texas, to Ricardo Joel Gomez and Texas-born ex-stage actress Mandy Teefey. The name was chosen for the Tejano musician Selena Quintanilla, who died in the year 1995. Her father is from Mexican origin, and her mother who was adopted is of Italian roots. Her paternal grandparents moved from Monterrey to Texas from Monterrey in the 1970s. Of her heritage, Gomez has said she is “a proud third-generation American-Mexican” and “My family does have quinceaneras, and we go to the communion church. We practice everything Catholic however, we don’t really do any traditional traditions, other than going to the park and hold barbecues every Sunday after church. “Gomez was proficient in Spanish up to the age of seven. The couple divorced at the age of five years older, but she stayed with her mother. Gomez has two half-sisters younger than her and a younger stepbrother Gracie Elliot Teefey, through Mandy and her second husband Brian Teefey. Victoria “Tori” as well as Marcus Gomez, through Ricardo and his second wife, Sara. She received her high school diploma by the homeschooling process in May 2010.
Gomez was born at the age of her mother, who was just 16 years old. The family faced problems with finances throughout the years of Gomez’s early years, as her mother struggled to support her family. In one instance, Gomez recalls that they needed to hunt for quarters in order to buy fuel for their car. Later, her mother recalled that the couple would often go to the local dollar store to purchase spaghetti to cook dinner. 19-year-old Gomez has revealed, “I was frustrated that my parents didn’t have a relationship and I never saw the possibility of seeing the light at the end the tunnel that my mom was working hard to make the best life possible for me. I’m afraid of what would have been if I had been in Texas. She stated she thought that mom was very strong around me. I was 16 and it was an immense responsibility. She sacrificed everything to help me, worked three jobs, stayed with me and gave up her life to me.” Gomez was close with her grandparents when she was an infant and was a part of several pageants. Her grandparents frequently took charge of her while her parents completed their education and she’s said she was “raised their daughter” until she achieved success as a show-business star.
Career
Gomez initially developed an interest in making a career in entertainment while watching her mother make her stage shows. In 2002 she started her acting career in the television show for children called Barney and Friends, playing her character Gianna. This was her first role as an actor. Gomez recalls the moment, “I was very shy when I was a kid. […] I didn’t even know what “camera right” meant. I was unsure of what blocking meant. It was all I knew from Barney. “Gomez Gomez was featured in 13 seasons of the program from 2002 and 2004; however, the show’s producers let her go because the actress was “too old” to be a part of the show. In the course of working in Barney & Friends, Gomez played small roles in the feature film Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) as well as the film made for television Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005). She was a guest in the 2006 episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, a Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
Gomez was offered a regular part on her role on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana in 2007 as pop-star Mikayla. At the time, Gomez filmed pilot episodes for two possible Disney Channel series; the first was an Arwin! spin-off of Suite Life, Suite Life spin-off titled Arwin!,[30and the other was an Lizzie McGuire spin-off titled What’s Stevie Thinking?. The actress later auditioned to play a character in the show Wizards of Waverly Place, eventually landing the role of Alex Russo. 26 Gomez as well as her mother relocated from Los Angeles to Los Angeles. 24 Wizards of Waverly Place saw Gomez playing a teenager who is part of a family of wizards who run an eatery within New York City. The show quickly became a hit for the Disney Channel and represented Gomez’s entry into mainstream. It received numerous awards and nominations, and garnered positive reviews, with Gomez’s being particularly praised for her comic timing and sarcastic delivery.
In the course of working for the second season Wizards of Waverly Place, Gomez was the voice of Helga for the feature film Horton Hears a Who! (2008). This film became a critical as well as commercial hit, earning more than $300 million globally. The actress Gomez played a major part as a dancer who was aspiring Mary Santiago in Another Cinderella Story (2008) The sequel to The A Cinderella Story series, made available on direct-to-video. The actress won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in an TV Movie, Miniseries, or Special leading young actress for her performance. She also composed three songs for the score, which included the hit single “Tell Me Something I Do Not Know”, which was her first time ever appearing to the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The singer also recorded the original track “Fly To Your Heart” to soundtrack Tinker Bell, the animation film. Tinker Bell (2008).
At the age of 16 Gomez signed a contract for her record label Hollywood Records. Gomez established the company of her own in 2008 which she named July Moon Productions. She collaborated together with XYZ Films for the project which allowed Gomez to choose writing assignments, recruit writers and design talent packages that she could offer at studios. Gomez was scheduled to launch two films under the company. The first one, called What Boys Want, would cast Gomez as a character who was able to hear thoughts of males. Later, she announced an adaptation film to the book Thirteen Reasons Why, in which she would play the role of a girl in her teens who commits suicide. Ultimately the film never came to fruition,however, Gomez was later to executive-produce an adaptation for television from Thirteen Reasons Why.
Gomez continued to be a major success the next year, making an appearance on the show as Alex Russo in a crossover episode of the Disney Channel series The Suite Life on Deck in 2009. The actress was also a guest star in her own Disney Channel series Sonny with a Chance. Gomez together with Demi Lovato, appeared in her role in the Disney Channel film Princess Protection Program that aired in June 2009. The film had an audience of 8.5 million viewers at its premier. The actress then appeared as a character in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie that was a television film based on the show. The film was released in August, with audiences in excess of 11.4 million viewers. It became the most scripted telecast on cable of the year. It also was the second most watched television show on cable, second only to High School Musical 2. The film’s director Roxana Hadadi from The Washington Post credited all three actors–Gomez David Henrie and Jake T. Austin — for their “acting abilities that carried the movie”. The film was awarded this series its third consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. The actress Gomez sang three tracks for the film and television series’ soundtrack, including single “Magic”. She then recorded the voice of the character of Princess Selenia on the English language French animated live-action movie Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard (2009).
