Best of the Decade: Childhood transformations

While Disney Channel itself has changed substantially throughout the past ten years, its star actors and actresses have been known for their hit or miss transformations. It’s hard to transition from portraying a cookie-cutter teenager to living in the real world as an adult. These are the top five Disney actor and actress transformations from the past decade:

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez began her career as the star of Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place.  She was named the Kids Choice Awards Best TV Actress for five years in a row and rapidly grew into one of the top singers and actresses of the decade. She is known for her seamless transition from sweet teenage wizard to powerful pop singer. Now, Gomez is known for her hit song Same Old Love and production of Netflix’s original show, 13 Reasons Why.

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande’s career first took off with her role as Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon’s hit TV show, Victorious. Shortly after Victorious ended in 2013, Grande took on a lead role in the crossover show Sam and Cat. After it’s first season, Sam and Cat ended and Ariana Grande went on to pursue a career in singing. Grande rapidly took hold of the charts and won a Grammy for Best Pop Album of the Year with her most recent album, Sweetener.

Cole Sprouse

Cole Sprouse’s acting career first took off with his role in the hit TV show Friends as one of the main character’s son, Ben. His next big series was The Suite Life of Zach and Cody which he co-starred in with his twin brother Dylan Sprouse. After that ended, immediately after they starred in a sequel to the TV show, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody On Deck which took off with the same popularity as its predecessor. When the sequel ended, Dylan and Cole Sprouse went their separate ways, finished high school and college. After attending New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study Cole Sprouse starred in the CW’s hit series Riverdale and currently plays Jughead Jones.

Bridgit Mendler

Known for her lead role as Teddy Duncan in Disney’s Good Luck Charlie, Bridget Mendler is famous for her graceful transition into adulthood. She took a break from acting for four years while she attended the University of Southern California, and dabbled in pop music. Mendler won a Radio Disney’s Best Acoustic Performance award for her hit song Ready or Not  from her album Hello My Name Is… Bridgit was recently married in 2019 to Griffin Cleverly.

The Jonas Brothers

The Jonas Brothers, Nick, Joe, and Kevin were known throughout the 2010’s for their boy band style of music which swooned teen girls and the top hit charts. In 2013 the band split up and went their separate ways, but each brother stayed sane and maintained a good lifestyle. Nick Jonas began writing and singing his own solo music, Joe joined and created the popular Pop/Dance band DNCE and Kevin got married and had two kids. Finally, once the pain of the band’s breakup succeeded, news broke that they got back together again in 2019 because of a documentary they recently filmed.