Disney Channel launched the journeys of superstars like Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, whose Hollywood careers have flourished into adulthood. (Cyrus was even honored as a Disney Legend this year.)
However, not everyone who lands on the Disney Channel decides to stay on TV forever. In fact, many of your favorite childhood actors from TV shows like Lizzie Maguire , Good Luck Charlie , and Wizards of Waverly Place decided to pursue careers outside of Hollywood.
Some of their experiences, including a space CEO and a nurse working near Walt Disney Studios, could even serve as inspiration for future TV shows on the channel. Below, learn about five former Disney Channel stars now working non-acting jobs.
Bridget Mendler
After rising to prominence in Good Luck Charlie as Teddy Duncan, Mendler embarked on a music career and decided to go to college—and beyond. The actor earned his master's degree from MIT, has already completed his Ph.D., and is about to receive his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
In February, Mendler announced that she is now CEO of Northwood, a space technology startup she co-founded. She also revealed that she will adopt a son in 2022.
Jennifer Stone
Stone didn't completely give up on acting after starring as Selena Gomez's best friend Harper in "The Wiz," but she did make a difficult transition. In 2020, she announced that she had graduated from nursing school and began volunteering at a Burbank hospital just steps away from where she had previously filmed at Walt Disney Studios.
Today, Stone balances nursing with hosting the Wizards Recap podcast with co-star David DeLuise and may even appear in a Wizards sequel series.
Adam Lamberg
Unlike Lizzie Maguire 's Gordo, Adam Lamberg didn't venture into directing. Instead, he worked as a development officer at the Irish Center for the Arts in New York until 2019, when he was scheduled to return to reboot Lizzie Maguire .
He even filmed some scenes with Hilary Duff himself before Disney+ canceled the show, suggesting he's open to acting again. Now, Lamberg works freelance in special event coordination and fundraising.
Ashley Brio
Briault played "frenemy" Kate Sanders on "Lizzie Maguire " from 2001 to 2004, but since then she stopped acting altogether. Instead, she attended the University of Denver School of Law. She now works as a criminal defense attorney and is focusing on being a mother.
Unlike Lamberg, Briault has no plans to return to the "Lizzie" reboot because the writers know she has left acting. However, she did reunite with the cast in 2020 for a virtual table read of the classic "Bra" episode.
Tiffany Thornton
While Thornton remains close to her Sonny with a Chance co-star Demi Lovato (who served as one of her bridesmaids in 2011), she has stepped away from acting, especially after After the death of her first husband, Christopher Carney, in 2015. She remarried two years later.
In 2016, Thornton briefly worked as a morning radio host before her family moved to Arkansas, where she worked as a recruiter at Champion Christian College. She is now a mother of four children.
