Meet Debby Ryan: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Rising Star
Anyone who follows red carpets or celebrity news in general has probably seen the name Debby Ryan quite a bit recently. The 20-year-old star of the wildly popular Disney series “Jessie” has been making the rounds at lots of celebrity-filled events this year, including making a few appearances during New York Fashion Week.
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For those of us over the age of 25, her arrival to the pop culture scene might be more of a mystery than for those who belong to the teenage set. (Debby is a fixture on Teen Vogue’s digital arm, and boasts 750,000 fans on Instagram.) So we set out to really figure out who the budding starlet is. Read on for 5 things you need to know about the rising star!
1. She’s a Southern girl by way of Germany.
Ryan was born in Hunstville, Alabama, then her family relocated to Texas shortly after. They were there for five years before moving to Germany because of her father John Ryan’s military career. They moved around Europe quite a bit before moving back to the States, settling in Texas then finally uprooting again and moving to L.A. so Debby could pursue her acting career at the age of 9.
2. She’s really into music.
In addition to her film and television roles, Debby is set to release her debut solo album this June. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s dating 24-year-old Josh Dun, the lead singer of rock band Twenty One Pilots.
3. She’s charity-minded.
Unlike many of her famous peers, Debby takes a very active role in almost too many charity projects to keep track of. From partnerships with handbag designer Patricia Nash to benefit breast cancer research, to collaborating with Benefit beauty on their “Love is Louder” campaign, Debby is definitely a do-gooder.
4. She got her big break on “Barney.”
She got her big-screen break in 2007 when she was cast as a random teenager in the kid’s movie “Barney: Let’s Go to the Firehouse.”
5 She’s making major moves in the fashion world.
Not only did she sit front row at the Naeem Khan during New York Fashion Week, she’s Instagrammed from big fashion events like this dinner with hip London label Osman, and regularly posts street style-inspired shots of her outfits.
