Ready, steady, Gomez

SHE’S only 19, but at times it can seem like Hollywood’s hottest property, Selena Gomez, has been around since the dinosaurs.

Well, one dinosaur — Barney, to be precise.

Her debut on Barney the Dinosaur in 2002 was an unlikely launching pad for a future superstar, perhaps, but Selena Gomez’s ascent has been relentlessly vertical ever since. Right now she’s about to go stratospheric with the release of one of the year’s most anticipated teen movies, Monte Carlo.

The Texas native, daughter of an Italian-American mother and a Mexican-American father, appears to have it all. Strikingly beautiful, the all-singing, all-dancing Gomez has long since been compared to Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, although Disney’s canny casting of Gomez in Monte Carlo opens up the possibility of her becoming this generation’s Audrey Hepburn.

And as if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the not inconsequential fact that Gomez is currently stepping out with a certain Justin Bieber.

Gomez picked up the acting bug early, watching her mother, a stage actress, prepare for her roles. She graduated from Barney the Dinosaur to minor walk-on roles in the movies (Spy Kids 3D, Walker: Texas Ranger), but things really started to take off when she was discovered during a nationwide talent search by the Disney Channel. Regular appearances on the Miley Cyrus show Hannah Montana followed, although her big break came in 2007 with a leading role in The Wizards of Waverly Place.

A made-for-TV movie of The Wizards of Waverly Place was second only to High School Musical 2 in the Disney ratings, and Gomez made the leap to Hollywood, filming Ramona and Beezus in a role that prepared the way for more adult parts.

Meanwhile, the fairytale gathered pace away from the silver screen. Already established as an acting talent, Gomez recorded her first pop song in 2008, a cover version of Cruella de Vil for the Disney Mania 6 album.

Humble beginnings, perhaps, but within a year Gomez had recorded three songs for the soundtrack of Another Cinderella Story. In 2009, she formed her own band, Selena & The Scene. Their debut album, Kiss & Tell, was certified gold and the two records that followed also sold in huge numbers.

It’s at this point, of course, that the average teen poppet tends to come off the rails, as the rarefied air inside the bubble of stardom fosters delusions of grandeur. To date, however, Gomez has steadfastly refused the temptation to shave her head in public.

In early 2008, for example, she exploited her star profile by getting involved in UR Votes Count, a political campaign aimed specifically at raising awareness in teens of the importance of voting, and in particular that of voting for Barack Obama. Later that year Gomez was co-opted onto the ‘Trick or Treat for Unicef’ campaign, which aimed to raise money for hungry children around the world. Gomez became Unicef’s youngest ever goodwill ambassador and travelled to Ghana later that year to highlight the poverty in that country.

Not content with that, Gomez also devotes her time and profile to a number of other charities, among them environmental concerns and an organisation devoted to rescuing abandoned dogs, a subject so close to her heart that Gomez herself owns five rescued dogs.

Too good to be true? Well, every fairy princess needs a handsome prince, but Gomez risked the wrath of Beliebers everywhere when news broke about their romance. The photogenic superstars make for a publicist’s dream, romping happily on the beach in Hawaii, parasailing high above the ocean, and smooching passionately at the Billboard Music Awards show in Las Vegas.

Difficult to begrudge the pair their happiness, or so you’d imagine, but it didn’t take long for the haters to get vicious. Only last week the internet came alive with the news that ‘Seleiber’ had split up after Selena discovered Justin texting his ex-girlfriend, Jasmine Villegas. The source of the rumour was eventually tracked down to a viral YouTube video, and the scurrilous gossip was finally put to bed by the sight of Justin hanging around backstage at a Selena gig in Florida last Saturday, wearing ! a Selena Gomez tour t-shirt.

The critics have yet to clap eyes on her break-out movie, Monte Carlo, which opens here in October, but brace yourself to hear a lot more of Selena Gomez. She plays Grace, an American teen mistaken for a British heiress, in a film that’s already been getting massive hype.

Is it possible that her star might even eclipse that of Justin’s? Don’t bet against it. Right now Gomez is living the fairytale, and is all set for the happily ever after.

* Monte Carlo is released in Ireland on October 21.