Teen Stars

• May 26, 2008
• Vol. 69
• No. 20

Is Selena Gomez... the Next Miley Cyrus?

By Michelle Tan

The Texas Teen (and Barney Alum!) Casts a Spell Over Fans on the Disney Channel Hit Wizards of Waverly Place. Now She and Her Parents Take on the Challenges of Fame

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From PEOPLE Magazine

Life can be tough for a child star—especially when your boss is a plush purple dinosaur. At age 7, Selena Gomez got her first big break starring on Barney & Friends. "I was very shy when I was little," she recalls. "I didn't know what 'camera right' was. I didn't know what blocking was. I learned everything from Barney." But after two seasons, she says, "[producers] felt like I was getting a little too old, so I got the boot."

Luckily, her career is far from extinct. Last year the Grand Prairie, Texas, native, now 15, landed the role of tomboy teen witch Alex on Disney Channel's hit Wizards of Waverly Place. In September she'll costar with her BFF (and fellow Barney alum) Demi Lovato in the Disney Channel movie Princess Protection Program. And she'll star in and sing on the soundtrack of the DVD movie Another Cinderella Story. Despite juggling her whirlwind Wizards schedule (she works Monday to Friday) with five hours of daily on-set schooling, "I'm having a blast!" says Gomez, perched on the patio of the two-bedroom Studio City, Calif., home where the family recently moved. "I've been blessed with everything that I'm doing."

Mom reminds her of that every day. "There are a ton of yes-people in this town, so it is my place to say no and remind her she is not owed anything," says her mother, Mandy Teefey, 32, who split from Gomez's dad, Ricardo, when Selena was 5. She wed Brian Teefey, 28, in '06. Together they run Selena's production company and supervise her on-set.

In her free time the self-described "shoe girl" spends her $150-250 weekly allowance at Aldo and Forever 21. As for dating? "I have crushes and go on dates, but I don't need a boyfriend right now," says Gomez, who wears a purity ring as "a promise to myself." The budding chef (her specialty: chicken with Hawaiian teriyaki sauce) also makes time for surfing, horror flicks and catching up with pals back home via iChat. "I've met the nicest people [in L.A.]," says Gomez, "but I'm a Texas girl at heart."

• Contributors:
• Lisa Ingrassia/L.A..

More From This Article

Raising Selena

How the actress's mom, Mandy Teefey, keeps her rising star grounded (Step 1: Be home before midnight!)

• ON HER CHORES She has to do her own laundry. If she cooks, I clean. If I cook, she cleans. She has to help feed the dogs. There are really no set chores. We just all pitch in when needed.

• ON HER CURFEW It depends on who she is with and where they are going, but 90 percent of the time it's 11:30 p.m. She never goes to movie premieres, wrap parties or anything related to the business without a parent. Period. That rule is not changing until she is 21!

• ON GETTING GROUNDED She hasn't been grounded in a very long time. But the last time she was in trouble, I took her cell phone away.

• ON GROWING UP IN HOLLYWOOD I was never really concerned about Selena. She is a very headstrong and driven girl. I really haven't changed any rules for her. If she wasn't allowed to do it in Texas, she's not allowed to do it here. Selena knows who she is, and I am around to make sure she doesn't change.