{"id":313866,"date":"2026-01-22T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlslife.com\/?p=313866"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:59:10","slug":"disney-channel-stars-then-vs-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/trending\/313866\/disney-channel-stars-then-vs-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Channel Stars Then vs. Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

Ever wonder what your fave nostalgic Disney Channel stars are up to lately? From the actresses who basically raised us (hi, Shake It Up <\/i>era) to the leads who starred in every movie night of your childhood, these celebs have seriously grown up\u2014and they\u2019re doing some pretty amazing things. So if you\u2019ve been craving a little trip down memory lane, grab your popcorn and get ready: We\u2019re catching up with the iconic Disney alums you loved back then\u2026and the major moves they\u2019re making today.<\/p>\n

Zendaya<\/h2>\n

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How it started: <\/strong>Zendaya started her career early as a child model\u2014but she says she was actually very shy in school. (Fun fact: She even had to repeat kindergarten to help build her confidence!) She discovered her love of performing when she acted in a school play for Black History Month and joined a hip-hop dance group. By age 11, she decided to take acting more seriously and enrolled in the Oakland School for the Arts. Zendaya faced financial struggles and rejection along the way, but she eventually landed her breakout role as Rocky Blue in Disney Channel’s Shake It Up!<\/em><\/p>\n

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How it’s going:<\/strong> Zendaya went on to star in another Disney Channel show,\u00a0K.C. Undercover<\/em>, has released hit songs like “Swag It Out”<\/a> and “Replay”<\/a> and is now starring in major theatrical releases like The Greatest Showman<\/em>, Dune<\/em> and the Spiderman<\/em> movies with her now-fianc\u00e9 Tom Holland. She has even won an Emmy for her role as Rue in HBO’s Euphoria<\/em>. It’s safe to say she is major proof\u2014especially for the introverted girlies\u2014to not let shyness prevent you from pursuing acting!<\/p>\n

Dove Cameron<\/h2>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How it started:<\/strong> Our girl Dove discovered her passion for acting at just 8 years old and perfofrmed in a number of plays at her community theater. At 14, she decided to take acting more seriously\u2014and her whole family moved to Los Angeles. Growing up, Dove confesses that she was frequently bullied at school and had trouble fitting in. And when she was 15, Dove also experienced the loss of her father. While she certainly went through a *lot* of ups and downs, her persistence in acting paid off when she booked Liv and Maddie!<\/em><\/p>\n

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How it’s going:<\/strong> After her breakout role on Liv and Maddie<\/em>, Dove went on to star in some of our other Disney Channel faves like Descendants<\/em> and Cloud 9.<\/em> She has also achieved major success beyond Disney, releasing music and starring on Broadway. Dove has also won some major accolades including Best New Artist at the American Music Awards and an Emmy for Liv and Maddie<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Sabrina Carpenter<\/h2>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How it started:<\/strong> At just 6 years old, Sabrina began taking voice lessons. She started posting videos on YouTube of herself singing Adele and Christina Aguilera songs (so cute!). When she first entered the acting world, Sabrina landed a handful of small roles, but her big break came when she landed the role of Maya on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How it’s going:<\/strong> Beyond Disney, Sabrina went on to star in movies like Tall Girl<\/em> and continued to make music with iconic albums like EVOlution<\/em> and Emails I Can’t Send\u2014<\/em>but 2024 was Sabrina’s breakout year. When she dropped “Espresso,” Sabrina skyrocketed to pop princess fame, with two Grammys and a world tour to boot.<\/p>\n

Meg Donnelly<\/h2>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How it started:<\/strong> Since Meg was a little kid, she always wanted to be on Broadway and Disney Channel. She claims that movies like High School Musical<\/em> inspired her to go into performing. A theater kid at heart, she performed in productions at her local theater in New York, Annie’s Playhouse. (Fun fact: Her first role ever was on Sesame Street!) Meg has admitted that there were times she thought it would never happen, but she eventually landed a starring role in the ABC sitcom American Housewife<\/em> and eventually became our Addison in Zombies.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How it’s going:<\/strong> Not only did Meg reprise her role as Addison in Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires<\/em> last year, but she also co-produced the movie with Milo Manheim. In 2025, her biggest dream also came true\u2014starring in Moulin Rouge! The Musical<\/em>\u00a0on Broadway (BTW, you can see her until March 1 in NYC!).<\/p>\n

Follow @girlslifemag<\/a> for more on your favorite celebs! \ud83d\udc96<\/h4>\n

Loving celeb content like this? We got you girl:
\n\ud83c\udf1fCould Freya Skye Be Rapunzel? Everything We Know About The Live-Action Tangled<\/a>
\n\ud83c\udf1fEXCLUSIVE! Leah Sava Jeffries Is A Real Life Legend<\/a>
\n\ud83c\udf1fMeg Donnelly Is Officially Making Her Broadway Debut!<\/a><\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> @dovesdates<\/a>, @funkopopsnews<\/a>, @dovesfeed<\/a>, @megsorange<\/a>, @megdonnelly<\/a>, @showdebate<\/a>, @tasteofsabrina<\/a>, @famousbirthdays<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever wonder what your fave nostalgic Disney Channel stars are up to lately? From the actresses who basically raised us (hi, Shake It Up era) to the leads who starred in every movie night of your childhood, these celebs have seriously grown up\u2014and they\u2019re doing some pretty amazing things. So if you\u2019ve been craving a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3033,"featured_media":313911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[300,296],"tags":[62287,10339,1357,5504,3124,236,459,41499,59379,173,2284],"class_list":["post-313866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebs","category-trending","tag-achieving-dreams","tag-acting","tag-disney-channel","tag-disney-stars","tag-dove-cameron","tag-dreams","tag-entertainment","tag-meg-donnelly","tag-pop-stars","tag-sabrina-carpenter","tag-zendaya"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}