Nick Jonas Praises His Disney 'Graduating Class' Including Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato: 'Tremendous'
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12/12/2024 07:21 PM
"You can see, frankly, the length of our careers and the success we've all been able to have," Jonas said of his fellow actors on the Disney Channel
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From left: Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Demi LovatoNick Jonas is a proud friend.
The actor, 32, spoke to Varietyat the Red Sea Film Festival on Dec. 12about the different directions his career has gone in since he entered the spotlight as a child. As someone who started out on the Disney Channel, Jonas credited much of his success to that experience.
"I absolutely look back at [Disney] as a creative school," he said. "It was also school, to be honest. I was between the ages of 14 and 18, which is my high school years. That graduating class of Miley [Cyrus], Selena [Gomez] and Demi [Lovato], it was all of us coming up together and you can see, frankly, the length of our careers and the success we've all been able to have."
Related: Former Disney Channel Stars Sound Off on the Experience: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Dave M. Benett/Getty
From left: Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas in September 2008The Jonas Brothers had a show called Jonas on the Disney Channel, as well as starred in the Camp Rock movies alongside Lovato. Meanwhile, Lovato had her own show Sonny with a Chance. Gomez was best known for starring on Wizards of Waverly Place and Cyrus had a leading role in Hannah Montana.
Today, though, Gomez recently received a Golden Globe nomination for Emilia Pérez, which Jonas called a "tremendous thing."
"I think that's a real testament to Disney's ability to find and foster talent and understand what makes someone unique while finding a way to make it work within their ecosystem," he noted.
Despite his fame, the "Jealous" singer said being known for his time on Jonas with his brothers Kevin and Joe didn't always benefit him. He recalled a time in 2014 when he wanted to audition for the drama series Kingdom, but was told "a Jonas Brother" wasn't right for the role.
"This was not the first time I'd heard this feedback," he revealed. "There were projects I went after where the feedback was, 'There was no way they were going to take a chance on casting you.'"
"That was really discouraging," he added.
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From left: Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Kevin JonasSince then, Jonas has gotten over the hump and went on to have several roles in both movies and television. He also found success as a solo artist after splitting from the brothers' group in 2013 before they reunited in 2019.
In 2025, Jonas will be returning to Broadway, where he got his start at the age of seven. He is taking on a role alongside Tony-winning actor Adrienne Warren in Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years.
"One of the things I'm most looking forward to is being around a community of people who share that same passion," he shared. "That is the beauty of this art form — you really find your people."
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"It comes with a little bit of pressure," he went on to admit. "But the good nerves, the ones where you feel butterflies, are exciting to me. I've spent a week back in New York working on the material with Jason, who is so wonderful to work with and almost surgical about every note, and when you wrap your head around all of the intricacies of his work it just gets even more fun to play in that sandbox."
