Selena Gomez and her on-screen brother, David Henrie, said launching the long-awaited sequel to Wizards of Waverly Place brought back familiar feelings.
‘It felt like I was home again,’ Gomez, 32, told Variety’s Marc Malkin Thursday night at the premiere for season four of her hit show Only Murders in the Building in Los Angeles.
‘I’m so happy I got to bring back this childhood gift that I was given to new little ones out there.’
The duo announced the new Disney show, called Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, in May.
‘It was bonkers,’ Henrie, 35, said of working with the Calm Down singer again.
Selena Gomez and her on-screen brother, David Henrie, said launching the long-awaited sequel to Wizards of Waverly Place brought back familiar feelings. ‘It felt like I was home again,’ Gomez, 32, told Variety
‘It was unspoken but we were behind a door and heard, “Action,” we looked at one another and were like, “This is crazy.”
‘It was like a day hadn’t passed in 12 years. We were right back to where we were.’
The premise is that Henrie’s character, Justin Russo, has embraced life as a mortal and is raising his family without magic.
That delicate balance is thrown off when Gomez’s Alex introduces them to a young wizard with a rebellious streak named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), who comes to live with Justin, his wife and kids.
Justin agrees to mentor the young wizard-in-training while juggling his everyday responsibilities and protecting the future of the Wizard World.
Gomez was scheduled to appear in only the first episode, so far, but both she and Henrie will serve as executive producers on the series.
‘Selena and I and my wife spent so much time over the years drinking wine and talking about where the characters would be, we looked at each other at one point and said, “I think we have a show. I think we should go talk to Disney about this.”
‘And we did. It took years of development to get it exactly where it needed to be,’ he told the outlet.
He said the new show, ‘came out of a place love.’
Henrie and Gomez played siblings Justin and Alex Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place which ran from 2007-2012 on the Disney Channel
The duo announced the long-awaited spinoff, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, in May. Henrie, 35, revealed he will be using his original wand in the new show
The actor revealed he will be using his original wand in the new episodes.
When Wizards ended in 2012, the cast were given wands in glass as wrap presents.
‘I was like, I am gonna break this sucker out again,’ Henrie said
The actor and producer said there’s a lot of room for growth with the spinoff.
‘It’s such a fertile universe. You could do so much.’
Both Gomez and Henrie, 35, will act as executive producers on the series. Gomez was scheduled to appear in only one episode so far
The premise is that Henrie’s Justin has decided to live as a mortal and raise his kids, played by Max Matenko and Alkaio Thiele, without magic, but that plan is in trouble when he agrees to mentor a young wizard-in-training named Billie, played by Janice LeAnn Brown
Wizards of Waverly Place ran from 2007 to 2012, but it has remained a fan favorite.
‘The number one thing Selena gets asked about even till today is Wizards. It’s a show that meant a lot to a lot of people,’ Henrie explained.
As for how audiences will react to the new show, Gomez is hopeful there could be more than one season. ‘We don’t know,’ she said, ‘but if people like it, we’ll see.’
No release date has been announced for Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, but the show is expected to debut later this year.
