Inside the Disney Machine: How the Iconic Brand Is Discovering the Next Generation of Stars

It’s a tale as old as time — or at least the late ’90s. Young actors cut their teeth on Disney youth programming and blossom into fully fledged pop stars or Academy Award-nominated actors. Some of today’s biggest stars — Zendaya, Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter, for example — got their start in the Disney talent pipeline.

And a new wave of young megatalent is now ready to take over screens and make their impact on Hollywood at large.

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It’s being led by one of Variety‘s Young Hollywood Issue cover stars Malachi Barton; “Descendants: Rise of Red” star Kylie Cantrall; “Camp Rock 3” songstress Liamani Segura; “Percy Jackson” actress Leah Jeffries, to name a few.

Filling the Disney halls with the next generation of mega-talent was the primary objective Kids & Family president Ayo Davis gave to Charlie Andrews, EVP of live action, and Brenda Kelly Grant, SVP of talent and casting, when they joined forces five years ago. That mission means identifying talent that can not only captivate a new generation of viewers, but also encompass everything it takes to be a star in 2026.

“Ayo said that priority number one is building the next generation of Disney stars. We all got into a room, and we talked about our best vehicles to do so,” says Andrews. “Brenda and her team have done an unbelievable job of identifying kids not just all across the country, but across the entire world for ‘Descendants,’ ‘Zombies, ‘Cheetah Girls,’ ‘Percy Jackson” and now our new show, ‘Coven Academy‘ coming out soon. It really started with the strategy right away that we need to rebuild that star-making machine that Disney Channel did better than anyone.”

Creating the next A-list is a years-long investment that requires finding talent, fostering it, and then keeping that talent in-house as they grow up and begin to seek new opportunities. Disney’s search for fresh faces is now worldwide, across multiple platforms. When they find stars with potential, the interview process begins before the actors are brought in.

For Grant, it’s one of the best parts of her job — “seeing extraordinary potential before the rest of the world.” Instead of looking at a performance, they’re thinking ahead. “We are looking at who they might become and how we pair them with the right opportunities to support them, to have that belief in them, and to really get them to where they need to be for that dream to come true.”

She continues, “The audition room just doesn’t tell the whole story anymore. We may be discovering someone through acting, and then we find out later they’re an exceptional singer or songwriter, or they just really have an ability to connect with audiences. The most exciting moments are when someone reveals those dimensions that we didn’t expect.”

It’s not enough for a young actor today to have good screen presence; they also need to command an audience on social media, the latter of which brings fresh eyes to Disney content. Talent are then able to have a direct relationship with fans who will also buy merch, concert tickets and attend events.

“We are entering a new era of Disney stardom because the combination of streaming music, live experiences, and the way we can pair them together just builds these deeper relationships with the talent,” Kelly Grant says. “That’s what this generation does best. They’re not in one lane — they’re trying all of these different things. The definition of a star has really evolved, and our talent are meeting audiences where they are.”

Andrews says the company has a symbiotic relationship with TikTok and other social media platforms. Social strategy was integral in Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly passing the “Zombies” baton to Barton and Freya Skye, for example. It also helped make the “Worlds Collide” live concert tour a record-breaking success.

“You saw all these young kids going to that concert, oftentimes the first concert of their entire lives. They or their parents are filming those moments; it goes viral, and it felt like a can’t-miss event,” he explains. “That live experience started with the movie, went to the concert, and was only amplified by these kids posting very real moments of themselves. Then it felt can’t-miss for everyone else out there, so they had to go buy tickets themselves.”

The executives cannot lose sight of the fact that they are working with minors. There are numerous resources within the Disney ecosystem, including on-set psychologists and therapists to help talent navigate any issues they may face, online or off. Kelly Grant and Andrews also maintain close relationships with talent even after they’ve been cast in a project.

“We try to have a very big presence on these sets, making sure we are having our lunches, coffees, and dinners with them, even in between projects, so that we’re having constant check-ins. So then we know what they’re thinking, how they’re doing, and what they need,” Andrews says. “I believe they feel that direct line to us, so that if anything does come up, they feel safe in having that conversation on anything they might need.”

Acting and singing have always seemed like prerequisites for Disney talent, but those demands are even more intense in the TikTok era. Kelly Grant and Andrews make sure they’re making the most of those talents by casting and creating roles that allow their young stars to stretch their wings.

Once talent sign with Disney, they have access to the Becoming program, providing extra training in acting, singing, dancing, and various other performance arts so they can become all-around talent. Kids & Family also has a strong relationship with The Music Group, so their stars can continue working on music while filming a show or film.

“What’s incredible about these kids is that they are actors. They are performers. They are dancers. They are singers. And they are all content creators on top of that. They are creating things online and in our content that speaks directly to the audience,” says Andrews. “Not everyone is the same. A really big role for us is to make sure we acknowledge all facets of them.”

When that talent is developed, Disney doesn’t want to lose it to other studios or platforms. Luckily, the company is large enough to cover the entire entertainment spectrum, which means as talent ages, they still remain Team Mickey Mouse. Manheim grew up on the Disney Channel and helped turn “Zombies” into a flagship franchise for Kids & Family. Next, he’ll star as Flynn Rider in Disney Studios’ live-action adaptation of “Tangled.” However, he and Donnelly remain producers of the franchise.

Selena Gomez returned to the Disney family in 2021 to star in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” which made it easier to bring her back to Kids & Family as a producer and star of “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.” Kelly Grant and Andrews leverage Disney’s portfolio of platforms to give the talent they are developing more grown-up opportunities while keeping them in-house.

Barton will continue in the “Zombies” franchise, but will also star in the upcoming “Coven Academy” from “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” creator Tim Federle. “Coven” caters more squarely to a teen audience than Disney Channel fare and will help its cast age with their fans now teenagers and entering young adulthood. The series will debut on Freeform on Oct. 1; the next day, the full season will be available to stream on Disney+, Hulu and Freeform on Demand.

“I love the ecosystem that Disney can offer. We have performers that move from a series to a film, to music and concerts, and continue to grow creatively while staying connected to their audience,” says Kelly Grant. “That’s what makes us different.”

Andrews adds, “We are thinking about roles on the movies side for them, and with our family content, but also Hulu and FX. We want the audience to age with them but stay on our platforms. We want to find those roles for them so they start as part of the Disney family at all times.”

Creating the next-generation superstar is understanding what a star actually means in the modern day. Disney believes it has that figured out and is helping its talent meet those demands and take over Hollywood.

“People say that there’s not a traditional movie star anymore, but I think the definition has just expanded. Today’s stars are not just confined to one screen or one platform,” Kelly Grant declares. “When I look at the talent coming through right now, that’s very exciting to me. We’re looking at the next generation of performers and how they will define the future.”