20 Celebrities That Starred On Disney Channel

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Disney channel served as a great launching pad for some of the most popular singers of today. Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Ryan Gosling were all saying the words: “Hi, I’m [so and so], and you are watching Disney Channel!” We all know what happened to A-listers, but there is a bunch of people who made their music baby steps on Disney. Here’s the list of some you might not know about.

Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer was the protagonist of the Disney show “True Jackson, VP” that ran from 2008 to 2011. It was a terrific starting point for Keke’s career and a way to show all her talents. Today, Keke is a TV personality with numerous movies behind her, like “Rags”, “Joyful Noise” and “Scream Queens”. Keke was also the first black woman to host MTV Awards in 2024.

Hilary Duff

From 2001 to 2004, Hillary Duff was known as Lizzie McGuire. She also played a memorable role in the following “Lizzie McGuire Movie”. Today, Hilary is a mom of three kids, singer, writer, producer, and actress.

Miley Cyrus

The famous Hanna Montana of Disney channel was airing for seven years as we were watching Miley changing, going from a child to a woman. After leaving the show, Miley started a successful singing career and wrote a book. She was also a part of the “Black Mirror” series where she played a rebellious pop star.

Vanessa Hudgens

Since portraying Gabriella in “High School Musical”, including the two sequels, Vanessa tried to turn her career into more mature roles. She starred in “Sucker Punch”, and “Spring Breakers”, but other than that her professional development has stalled. She is, however, very active on social media, promoting various brands on Instagram.

Zac Efron

Another “High School Musical” star caught the eye of the producers. After Disney production movies, Zac scored some fantastic roles in “The Lucky One” and “Neighbors”. In 2016, he got the role in “Dirty Grandpa” alongside Robert DeNiro. Recently, he played Ted Bundy in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Vile and Evil”.

Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Tisdale was the most beloved character from “High School Musical”. However, after her Disney days were over, Ashley had a hard time establishing herself in more mature roles. She did play in two forgettable movies over the years, but nothing major so far.

Selena Gomez

Selena became a part of the Disney gang in 2002, but her breakthrough was in 2007 when she played Alex Russo in “Wizards of Waverly Place”. Selena left the show after five years and became, well, Selena Gomez, the pop superstar.

Bella Thorne

Bella found her fame in 2010 in Disney’s “Shake It Up”. However, like many former child actors, Bella tried scoring big roles unsuccessfully. She did start her own make-up business and seems to be doing great as an entrepreneur.

Brenda Song

Song is one of the rare child actors that managed to star in Disney as well as in Nickelodeon shows. Still, her breakthrough happened on the Disney channel when she was part of the crew in “The Suite Life of Zack&Cody” alongside the Sprouse twins.

Demi Lovato

Demi was Disney’s superstar. She appeared in “Princess Protection Program”, and “Camp Rock”, playing alongside Selena Gomez and Jonas brothers. Afterward, Lovato launched a successful singing career. She also openly talked about her struggles with earing disorders.

Jake T. Austin

Jake T. Austin played Selena Gomez’s younger brother on “Wizards of Waverly Place”. When Selena left, some harsh words were exchanged between the two co-stars. Since then, Jake has been struggling to revive his acting career. In the meantime, he competed on “Dancing With the Stars” without much success.

Zendaya

Zendaya has come a long way since starring in “Shake It Up”. Her acting career is booming, with the 25-year old scoring roles in “Spider-man: Homecoming” and “The Greatest Showman”. She also got the role in “Dune”.

Nick Jonas

Nick Jonas is a true pop star and an actor. He started performing in the theater when he was only 7 years old and later formed a band with his brothers, Joe and Kevin. The trio gained worldwide fame, but they all went their separate ways. Nick is devoted to building his music career, focusing mostly on R&B and pop sounds. In 2018 Nick married Priyanka Chopra.

Joe Jonas

Joe was experimenting with different music for years. He was the frontman of DNCE, only to return to being a solo performer. Nowadays, he is focused on his music and his family. Joe is married to Sophie Turner, and they have a daughter Willa.

Kyle Massey

We all remember Kyle from “That’s So Raven”, in the role of Raven’s brother. Since then, Kyle Massey moved on to more mature movies, showing up in “Gotham”, and “Being Mary Jane”. He also appeared on “Dancing With the Stars” where he captured the audience’s hearts.

Olivia Holt

Olivia Holt was part of several Disney productions, including “Kickin’ It” and “Shake It Up”. However, her career halted while she was trying to go for the more grown-up movies. Recently, she scored a role in “Cloak and Dagger”.

Raven-Symone

From 2003 to 2007, Raven was a star of Disney playing in “That’s So Raven” show. Since then, she turned her attention to the TV being one of the hosts on “The View”. As far as any major roles, Raven is still searching and praying.

Jake Thomas

Jake played Lizzie McGuire’s younger brother on the show. After he left the Disney channel, he had guest roles in “CSI”, “NCIS” and “Criminal Minds”.

Debby Ryan

Debby Ryan was one of the brightest stars on Disney. Besides having her own show “Jessie”, she appeared in  “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody”, “Wizards of Waverly Place”, and “Austin & Ally”. In 2024, Debby is scheduled to show on “Insatiable” on Netflix.

Emily Osment

After playing the BBF of Hanna Montana, Emily tried to initiate her pop music career. That didn’t go so well, so she turned her focus on producing and working on music software. These days, Emily goes by the name of Bluebird.