Celebrity
5 Disney Channel Stars Who Now Have Normal Jobs
From a space CEO to a nurse.
The Disney Channel started the journeys of megastars like Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez, whose Hollywood careers have flourished into adulthood. (Cyrus is even being honored as a Disney Legend this year.)
However, not everyone who landed on the Disney Channel shows that many watched as kids and pre-teens decided to stay on TV forever. In fact, many of your favorite childhood actors, from shows like Lizzie McGuire, Good Luck Charlie, and Wizards of Waverly Place, decided to pursue careers outside of Hollywood.
Some of their paths, which include a space CEO and a nurse working near Walt Disney Studios, could even serve as inspiration for the channel’s future TV shows. Below, read about five former Disney Channel stars who now work non-acting jobs.
Bridgit Mendler
After breaking out on Good Luck Charlie as Teddy Duncan and embarking on a music career, Mendler decided to go to college — and beyond. The actor received her Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with progress already made on a PhD, and is close to getting her JD (Doctor of Law) from Harvard Law School.
In February, Mendler announced that she is now the CEO of Northwood, a space tech start-up that she co-founded. She also revealed that she adopted a son in 2022.
Jennifer Stone
After appearing as Selena Gomez’s BFF Harper on Wizards of Waverly Place, Stone didn’t give up acting entirely, but she did make a hard pivot. In 2020, she announced that she had graduated from nursing school and started volunteering at a Burbank hospital, just steps away from where she used to film at Walt Disney Studios.
Nowadays, Stone balances nursing with hosting a Wizards rewatch podcast with co-star David DeLuise, and might even appear in the Wizards sequel series.
Adam Lamberg
Unlike his Lizzie McGuire character Gordo, Adam Lamberg did not go into the directing world. Instead, he worked as a development officer at New York’s Irish Arts Centre until 2019, when he planned to return for the Lizzie McGuire reboot.
He even filmed scenes with Hilary Duff herself before Disney+ scrapped the show, indicating that he’s open to acting again. Now, Lamberg works as a freelancer in special events coordinating and fundraising.
Ashlie Brillault
Brillault played “frenemy” Kate Sanders on Lizzie McGuire from 2001 to 2004, but since then, she’s stopped acting entirely. Instead, she attended law school at the University of Denver. She now works as a criminal defense attorney and is focused on being a mom.
Unlike Lamberg, there were no plans in place for Brillault to return to the Lizzie reboot, as the writers knew that she had left the acting world. However, she did reunite with her castmates in 2020 for a virtual table read of the classic “bra” episode.
Tiffany Thornton
While Thornton has remained close with her Sonny With A Chance co-star Demi Lovato (who was one of her bridesmaids in 2011), she has stayed away from acting, especially after her first husband, Christopher Carney, passed away in 2015. She remarried two years later.
Thornton had a stint as a morning radio show host in 2016 before moving her family to Arkansas, where she worked as a recruiter at Champion Christian College. She is now a mom to four children.
