Lovato began her acting career at the age of seven on the children's television series
Barney & Friends as Angela, appearing in seasons seven and eight alongside long time friend
Selena Gomez.
[24] In 2006, Lovato guest starred on
Prison Break as Danielle Curtin in the episode "First Down." She also appeared in the second season of the television sitcom
Just Jordan as Nicole, in the episode "Slippery When Wet." In January 2007, she landed the role of Charlotte Adams on the
Disney Channel Original Short Series,
As the Bell Rings,
which premiered on August 26, 2007. A few of her original songs,
including "Shadow", were featured on the show. In the summer of 2007,
Lovato auditioned for the
Disney Channel television film
Camp Rock and the television series
Sonny with a Chance in the same day and got both parts.
[25] For Camp Rock, she submitted an audition tape and Gary Marsh,
Disney's president of entertainment, asked her to sing.
[26] She sang
Christina Aguilera's "
Ain't No Other Man", and
Hollywood Records senior vice president Bob Cavallo said that their "jaws just dropped".
[26] Lovato received the lead role in Camp Rock,
[26] and a record deal with Hollywood Records in 2007.
[25] In
Camp Rock
she played Mitchie Torres, a fourteen-year-old girl with hopes of
becoming a singer. The movie premiered on June 20, 2008, in the United
States on the
Disney Channel with 8.9 million viewers, making Lovato a household name among young viewers.
[27] Its
Disney Channel Italy premier received 1.14 million viewers on September 2008.
[28]
Starting in 2009, Lovato appeared as Sonny Munroe in the
Disney channel comedy
Sonny With a Chance. The show featured Lovato as the newest cast member on the
show-within-a-show So Random!. The series debuted on February 8, 2009 in the
United States. This is the first
Disney Channel Original Series to be shot and aired in
high-definition from the beginning; like most of
Disney Channel's sitcoms, it is shot on tape, but uses a "
filmized"
appearance. The second season, some scenes are shot on location. The
series is one of three Disney Channel Original Series to feature a
show-within-a-show, with the others being
The Famous Jett Jackson and
Shake It Up. The series officially ended on January 2, 2011.
Gary Marsh,
president of entertainment, Disney Channel Worldwide, stated "This
series is rooted in one of the core thematic attributes that we stand
for, which is following your dreams, there also was the opportunity to
do a hybrid show."
The show began production on September 15, 2008 and the first season was taped at Stage 11 at
NBC Studios in
Burbank, California;
for the second season, the show's production moved to
Hollywood Center Studios in
Hollywood, California, where
The Suite Life on Deck,
Wizards of Waverly Place and
Jonas L.A. are also taped.
In June 2009 Lovato co-starred in
Princess Protection Program as Princess Rosalinda alongside
Selena Gomez on the Disney Channel.
[30]
The made-for-television movie is the third highest rated Disney Channel
Original Movie, premiering on the Disney Channel with 9.8 million
viewers. Laura Fries of Variety magazine describes the film as being
"light as a summer breeze on the Louisiana bayou". Although the film
does not stray far from the Disney formula, she praises writer Annie
DeYoung for providing young girls a nice message about self-esteem. She
says the film should be a hit with the channel's target audience.
In September 2009, production began for
Camp Rock's sequel,
Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. The Disney Channel Original Movie premiered on September 3, 2010.
[32][33] The film was watched by 7.9 million viewers on its premiere night,
[34]
about 1 million less viewers than its predecessor. In 2010 it also
became the most watched cable television programme that week,
[35] as well as the No. 1 movie by number of viewers on 2010's cable television.
[34] In its second broadcast on September 4, the film reached 3.7 million viewers.
[35] The film also reached 21 million unique viewers over its premiere weekend from September 3 to September 6.
[36]
In its UK premiere on September 17, 2010 in was watched by 637,000
viewers. The film received generally mixed reviews. The review aggregate
website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 40% of critics gave the film
mixed reviews, based on 5 reviews (3 'Rotten' and 2 'Fresh'), with an
average score of 6.1/10.
[37] The film currently holds an 8.7 rating, earning it a "Great" film rating on
TV.com.
[38] Lovato appeared as a guest star in an episode of the medical drama series
Grey's Anatomy as a teenage patient named Hayley May, whose parents brought her in for schizophrenia.
[39] In a review of the episode,
EW.com
praised her performance, stating, "I still believe that even an
unbiased observer would conclude that the Disney princess did a fine job
acting it up as a suicidal 16-year-old who was admitted after trying to
claw her own eyes out."
[40]
On April 19, 2011, People.com reported that Demi Lovato would not be returning for the third season of
Sonny With a Chance due to her health issues.
[41] As a result, the show will be renamed
So Random! and focus only on the sketches rather than the behind-the-scenes antics. As a result of Lovato's departure from
Sonny with a Chance, the series is the second Disney Channel original series to have its lead actor/actress leave during the series' run (after
So Weird), and the fourth Disney Channel series to have a main cast member leave the series during its run (with
That's So Raven and
Jonas L.A. also included).
[42] The third season was then turned into its own
new series
based on its new format. On leaving the show, Lovato satated "...it's
kind of sad for me that a chapter of my life has ended but there
couldn't be a better time for me to move on...I don't think going back
to
Sonny would be healthy for my recovery...Being in front of a camera would make me nervous."
[43]
Lovato said in an April 2012 interview with KOKO POP UK that music is
currently her "top priority", but that she is "kind of getting the itch
to get back into acting, so we'll see what comes next."
[44]
In an interview with Fabulous Magazine UK, Lovato said she will not
come back to acting until she is fully confident. "I need to be secure
in my body before I go back in front of the camera. Anyone in recovery
from an eating disorder would find that triggering, and I'm not ready,"
she says.
[45]
