Selena Gomez got her start much in the same way that Demi Lovato did. The two actually met while auditioning

Selena Gomez on Barney Pictures

Selena Gomez on Barney Videos

for Barney and Friends when Selena asked Demi if she wanted to color with her. While Barney is often made fun of, this was a big break for Selena Gomez and it helped her get into her current role on the Disney Channel Original Series Wizards of Waverly Place.

Selena Gomez gives a lot of credit to her role as Gianna on Barney and Friends. "I learned a lot from that," says Gomez, who landed the "Barney" role in an open casting call. "I didn't know anything about 'Downstage,' or 'Go, camera left.' or 'Go, camera right.'"

Selena got her acting passion from her mother, who did plenty of acting at a local theater in Dallas. Selena persuaded her mom to let her go to the casting call for Barney and Friends.

"I was just having fun with it, and it turned into something I was really passionate about," Gomez says of those early days. "Of course, I worshiped the Disney Channel when I was younger. "'Lizzie McGuire," "Suite Life" - I wanted to be like Lizzie."

Barney led to jobs in "Spy Kids 3-D," "The Suite Life of Zach & Cody," "Hannah Montana," "Walker, Texas Ranger", and of course Wizards of Waverly Place. More recently, Selena has been cast alongside Demi Lovato in the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie, Princess Protection Program.

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