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From Barney to Disney Channel star and beyond! At a young age, Selena Gomez became a household name and continues to push the status quo in the entertainment industry as the years go by.
In the middle of her booming career, Gomez suffered a few personal setbacks including a lupus diagnosis, life-changing transplant surgery and a battle with mental health, but has never let any of that stop her. The Wizards of Waverly Place actress first opened up about her medical diagnosis in 2015 and it has allowed her to live her truth in the spotlight.
In 2018, Gomez put her work on the back burner as she sought mental health treatment at a psychiatric facility on the East Coast. The Spring Breakers actress took to Instagram in April 2019 to open up about her decision to put herself ahead of her career.
“I think that I needed a moment to myself because I do feel like I was growing and changing,” Gomez wrote before answering a fan’s question about the advice she’d give to her younger self.
“Gosh, if I knew what I know now,” she explained, “I am a believer of therapy. So, I think that I have had opportunities where I kind of reflect on the younger me, and I think that a lot of the times I wished that I could hug my younger self. I wish I could have done and experienced a lot of things, maybe, a little differently.”
She added: “I don’t really think people know my heart because I think that sometimes people may think that I politically say the right thing or I’m safe or I’ve been trained to speak this way. I don’t know how to be trained. Like, how on earth would someone be training me to speak things?”
Gomez has been a pioneer in her work to bring awareness to mental health as well as her career in the entertainment industry.
Scroll down to take a look back at Selena Gomez through the years!
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July 1992
Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas on July 22, 1992, to parents Mandy Teefey and Ricardo Gomez.
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2002 to 2004
Selena starred as Gianna on the hit children’s show Barney and Friends for two seasons alongside Demi Lovato. She also appeared in two movies based on the series, Barney: Best Manners — Invitation to Fun and Barney: Read with Me, Dance with Me.
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2003
The Texas native made her film debut as a waterpark girl in Spy Kids 3.
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2006
Selena appeared on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody as a character named Gwen.
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2007
Her big break! Years after smaller roles, Selena was cast as Alex Russo in Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. She would go on to film four seasons from 2007 to 2012.
