Selena Gomez is an American actor, singer, producer and entrepreneur whose career has moved through several distinct chapters: child television, Disney stardom, chart-topping music, award-recognized acting and, eventually, business ownership through Rare Beauty.

What makes Gomez’s career unusual is the way those chapters have continued to overlap. The actor who became famous as Alex Russo later returned to the same franchise as an executive producer and director; the pop artist who built a global audience later used that visibility to launch a beauty company and fund mental-health access; and the former Disney star has since earned recognition from Cannes, the Television Academy and the Recording Academy.

Profile Snapshot

Name: Selena Marie Gomez

Born: July 22, 1992

Birthplace: Grand Prairie, Texas, United States

Nationality: American

Profession: Actor / Singer / Producer / Entrepreneur

Known For: Wizards of Waverly Place, Only Murders in the Building, music, Rare Beauty and Emilia Pérez

Business: Founder of Rare Beauty

Social Impact: Founder of the Rare Impact Fund / Co-Founder of Wondermind

Major Recognition: Cannes Best Actress Award 2024 / Emmy nominee / Grammy nominee

From Child Actor to Disney Star

Gomez began acting as a child, appearing on Barney & Friends before moving into small television and film roles.

Her defining early breakthrough came in 2007 when Disney Channel cast her as Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place.

The character gave Gomez something more substantial than a conventional teenage lead. Alex was sarcastic, impulsive and often deliberately imperfect, and the role became closely associated with Gomez throughout the series’ four-season run.

Wizards of Waverly Place developed into one of Disney Channel’s defining franchises of that period and gave Gomez a platform that extended beyond acting into music, television films and a much larger entertainment career.

Building a Music Career Beyond Disney

Music initially developed alongside Gomez’s acting work through soundtrack recordings and the band Selena Gomez & the Scene.

The group released three studio albums between 2009 and 2011, including songs such as Naturally, Who Says and Love You Like a Love Song. Gomez then moved into a solo career with Stars Dance in 2013.

Her later albums Revival and Rare marked a clearer separation from her Disney-era musical identity. By the time Rare arrived in 2020, Gomez had developed a more personal style centered on vulnerability, relationships and self-reflection.

Lose You to Love Me, released ahead of Rare, became her first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

She also expanded into Spanish-language music with the 2021 EP Revelación, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album.

Only Murders in the Building

A major turning point in Gomez’s acting career arrived in 2021 with Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.

Gomez plays Mabel Mora alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short, forming the central trio of amateur true-crime investigators at the heart of the series.

The role allowed her to move well beyond the type of performances associated with her early career. Mabel is understated, guarded and often emotionally restrained, giving Gomez room to work within a comedy built as much around character relationships as murder-mystery plotting.

Gomez is also an executive producer on the series.

Her work on Only Murders in the Building brought sustained recognition from the Television Academy. In 2024, she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, while her producing work has contributed to repeated Outstanding Comedy Series nominations through 2026.

Emilia Pérez & the Cannes Film Festival

Gomez reached another important acting milestone with Jacques Audiard’s 2024 film Emilia Pérez.

She played Jessi, one of the central figures in the Spanish-language musical drama, alongside Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña and Adriana Paz.

At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the four actresses jointly received the festival’s Best Actress Award.

The recognition carried particular weight for Gomez because it came from one of international cinema’s most prominent festivals and reflected a side of her acting career far removed from the television work that first made her famous.

Rare Beauty: Moving From Endorsement to Ownership

In 2020, Gomez launched Rare Beauty, creating one of the most important business entities connected to her name.

The company was not positioned simply around celebrity makeup. Its stated mission challenges unrealistic beauty standards and places individuality, self-acceptance and emotional wellbeing at the center of the brand.

Rare Beauty’s product range has grown across complexion, cheeks, lips, eyes, tools, body products and fragrance. Products such as Soft Pinch Liquid Blush became closely associated with the brand as it expanded through Sephora and international beauty markets.

For Gomez, Rare Beauty represented a significant shift in her commercial career. Rather than serving as the face of another company, she became the founder of a brand whose identity, products and social mission were directly tied to her own point of view.

Rare Impact Fund

The social-impact structure around Rare Beauty is central to understanding the company.

Gomez created the Rare Impact Fund to expand access to mental-health services and education for young people.

One percent of all Rare Beauty sales is donated to the fund, which also raises money through foundations, corporate partners, individuals and the wider Rare Beauty community.

The fund has set a goal of mobilizing $100 million for organizations working to increase access to youth mental-health resources.

This means Rare Beauty’s relationship with mental health is not limited to brand messaging; it is connected to an ongoing funding structure built into the company’s commercial activity.

Wondermind

Gomez extended that work by becoming a co-founder of Wondermind, a platform created around the idea of “mental fitness.”

Wondermind combines expert-backed information, conversations, exercises and practical tools intended to make ongoing mental-health support feel more accessible in everyday life.

The project sits outside Rare Beauty but shares an important connection with it: both businesses reflect Gomez’s effort to turn subjects she has discussed publicly into longer-term platforms rather than one-off awareness campaigns.

Producing Behind the Camera

Gomez’s role as a producer developed before Only Murders in the Building.

Her executive-producing credits have included Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and the documentary series Living Undocumented, giving her experience behind the camera alongside her acting career.

Only Murders in the Building later brought those two sides of her career together: she was simultaneously a lead performer and part of the producing team responsible for the series.

That shift matters because Gomez’s career is no longer defined only by the roles she is offered. Producing has given her a position in the development and continuation of projects themselves.

Returning to Wizards — This Time as a Producer & Director

More than a decade after Wizards of Waverly Place ended, Gomez returned to the Russo family through Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.

She joined the continuation series as an executive producer and reprised Alex Russo in guest appearances, while David Henrie returned as Justin Russo.

In 2026, Disney announced another important development: Gomez would make her directorial debut on the final chapter of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, while also appearing again as Alex.

The return creates an unusual full-circle moment in her career. The franchise that established Gomez as a teenage actor has become a project she now helps shape from behind the camera.

I Said I Love You First

Gomez returned to a full-length music project in 2025 with I Said I Love You First, created with producer and songwriter Benny Blanco.

The album was conceived as a collaborative record built around their shared story, moving through themes of life before their relationship, falling in love and looking toward the future.

I Said I Love You First debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, adding another major chart entry to Gomez’s catalogue.

The project also produced Bluest Flame, which earned Gomez and Blanco a 2026 Grammy nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording.

A Career With Several Centers

Selena Gomez’s career is difficult to reduce to a single label because none of its major areas now functions merely as a side project.

Acting has produced Only Murders in the Building and a Cannes acting prize. Music has generated major albums, chart records and Grammy nominations. Producing has placed her behind projects across Hulu, Netflix and Disney. Rare Beauty has given her a company of her own, while the Rare Impact Fund and Wondermind have created a separate layer of work around mental-health access.

The connection between those areas is not simply celebrity visibility. Over time, Gomez has moved increasingly toward ownership: ownership of companies, producing roles, creative direction and projects built around ideas she wants to carry beyond a single performance or release.

Offers & Creator Codes

Famousi brings together current public offers, creator codes and other available opportunities connected to Selena Gomez, Rare Beauty or her documented professional activities when they are available.

Offers, codes and terms may change over time. Readers should check the current details before using an offer.

Selena Gomez on Famousi

Read more about Selena Gomez through her Famousi profile.

Follow her acting and music career, Rare Beauty, the Rare Impact Fund, Wondermind, producing work, documented brand and industry connections, new projects, related stories and current opportunities as they become available.

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