People: A wizard, a true star?

She’s a wizard, but 15-year-old Selena Gomez knows that just waving her wand isn’t going to turn her into the next Miley Cyrus.

Since word got out that the breakout star of the Disney Channel TV show “Wizards of Waverly Place” is planning on recording an album later this year, the “Future Miley” predictions have started to fly.

“I think it’s an honor, it’s a good compliment,” says Gomez, looking somewhat embarrassed by the comparison.

“But I think I might want to take a different route when it comes to that,” she continues, smiling shyly. “I love acting, and that’s my passion. So I would love to do more movies and some serious things like that. So maybe a different road with me.”

In the meantime, Gomez says she’s having the time of her life sliding through pools of chocolate, riding on magic carpets, swinging from chandeliers and getting into every other outrageous predicament that her character, teenage tomboy wizard Alex Russo, can manage.

Offscreen, her parents keep a fairly tight rein on her, she says, leaving little room to act like Alex while dividing her time between homes in Los Angeles and her native Texas.

“I’m nothing like her,” Gomez says of the character. “She’s kind of mean and a little bit sassy, and I think I’d get in trouble for that.”

In the show, which airs Sundays at 8:30 p.m., she’s the middle child, sandwiched between two brothers: 13-year-old Jake T. Austin‘s mischievous Max, and 18-year-old David Henrie‘s serious, often put-upon Justin.

All three are wizards, having inherited their magical powers from their father, who had to give up his when he married a mortal.

An only child, Gomez says Henrie and Austin “have become like my real brothers.”

“By that I mean we fight and argue, too,” she says. “We do the whole, like, picking on each other brotherly-sister thing.”

Heading into its second season, “Wizards of Waverly Place” often fights a seesaw ratings battle with Cyrus’ “Hannah Montana” and Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” for most popular show among the tween demographic.

That has led to more Miley-Selena comparisons – although a third actress, Demi Lovato, is also being talked up after starring in the new Disney TV movie “Camp Rock.”

If there is any rivalry among the actresses, you wouldn’t know it from talking to Gomez.

“That’s my best friend!” she shouts excitedly when Lovato’s name is mentioned. “She’s been my best friend since I was 7 years old, and we did ‘Barney’ together.”

But while Cyrus’ public appearances have generated mob scenes, Gomez and Lovato have pretty much stayed under the radar.

Part of the reason, Gomez speculates, is her penchant for dressing in sweats and T-shirts.

“I remember one time I went to the store and this girl goes … ‘Oh my gosh! Is that Selena Gomez?”’ she recalls with a laugh.

“And then a girl next to her goes, ‘No, trust me. That’s not her. She wouldn’t dress like that.’ “

The birthday bunch

Actor Ted Shackelford (“Knots Landing”) is 62. “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson is 52. Actress Frances McDormand is 51. Actress Selma Blair is 36. Singer KT Tunstall is 33. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 31. Singer Duffy is 24.