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Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992) is an American actress and singer-songwriter best known for her portrayal of Alex Russo on the Emmy Award winning Disney Channel Original Series, Wizards of Waverly Place.

Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas to Ricardo Gomez and Mandy Teefey (née Cornett), a former stage actress. Her father is Mexican American and her mother is of half Italian descent. Her birth parents divorced when she was five years old, and she was raised as an only child by her working mother. In 2006, her mother remarried Brian Teefey. She is named after Tejano singer Selena.

In a 2009 interview, Gomez said she developed an early interest in acting from watching her mother perform in theater productions. "My mom [Mandy] did a lot of theater, and I would watch her rehearse. When she got ready for the show and put on her makeup, I would sit behind her and color.She earned a high school diploma through homeschooling in May 2010.