Selena Gomez Biography

Selena Gomez, actress

Birthdate: July 22, 1992

Birthplace: New York City, New York

Sign: Cancer

Selena Gomez started out as a child actress on "Barney & Friends," and is now best known for her role as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place."

She is also a singer and has recorded songs for Walt Disney Records and sang several songs while on "Barney & Friends" with her Barney co-star Demi Lovato, who recently starred in Disney's "Camp Rock."

Selena Gomez is an only child and was born in New York City, but grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas. Her mother, Mandy Teefy, is a former stage actress who gave birth to Selena at the age of 16.

Gomez's first role was on "Barney & Friends" as Gianna. Gomez was discovered by Disney in a nation wide Disney talent search when she was 10 years old. She did three pilot episodes for Disney, until "Wizards of Waverly Place" was picked up. In 2006, she guest starred in the second-season of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" as Gwen in the episode "A Midsummer's Nightmare." Also in 2007, she appeared in the second-season episodes of "Hannah Montana" as Mikayla, a pop star who is a rival of Hannah Montana.

She currently stars as Alex Russo in "Wizards of Waverly Place," which premiered on October 2007 on Disney Channel. She is also currently co-starring with Drew Seeley in the sequel to the hit movie "A Cinderella Story" called "Another Cinderella Story" as the main character Mary.

Gomez performs the opening song for "Wizards of Waverly Place." She also contributed a cover of the classic "Cruella De Vil" for the 101 Dalmatians platinum DVD and DisneyMania 6. In 2008, she was shown in the Jonas Brothers music video, "Burnin' Up."

She recently signed to an un-exclusive record deal with Hollywood Records just before her 16th birthday on July 22.

Gomez is best friends with fellow "Barney & Friends" actress Demi Lovato and the pair make YouTube Webcam videos together. When asked how long the pair have been friends, Demi answered "when I asked her to sit on my jacket and draw with crayons (at the Barney auditions)."

Gomez also makes YouTube videos with "Wizards of Waverly Place" co-star Jennifer Stone.

Gomez, who is of Mexican and Italian heritage, wears a purity ring on her left ring finger that says "True Love Waits."

Many have said that Gomez will be the next Miley Cyrus, but Gomez insists that she doesn't want to replace Cyrus and that she just wants to be her own person. Rumors have also surrounded her that she is dating pop star Nick Jonas. Gomez has said she doesn't currently have a boyfriend, but she does have a crush on actor Shia LaBeouf.

Gomez had a role in the animated film "Horton Hears A Who!" as Steve Carrell's daughter, but never did meet the star.