Selena Gomez & David Henrie Talk ‘Wizards Of Waverly Place’ Return; Steve Martin & Martin Short Address Possible Appearances
It’s official. The Wizards of Waverly Place sequel series has a premiere date and Selena Gomez can’t wait for fans to see it.
Gomez spoke to Deadline at the Only Murders in the Building junket ahead of the show’s Season 4 premiere on August 27 alongside her co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short.
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“What I would say is now you’ll get a glimpse of where Alex Russo and the Russo family is 17 something years later. A lot has changed but there’s still the heart of what keeps Wizards of Waverly Place alive. I’m excited and I hope people enjoy it,” Gomez shared in the video above.
She added with a laugh, “Oh, they don’t answer my calls,” when asked if Martin and/or Short could appear on Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.
Short added, “I’d be thrilled but I was a little hurt when she said, ‘Can you read for our casting director? I thought that was a little icey.”
Okay, so the duo of Martin and Short may not be magical wizards this time around but who knows what the future holds. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place will premiere on Disney Channel with two episodes airing on October 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The first eight episodes will become available the next day on Disney+ and Disney Channel On Demand.
The series follows an adult Justin Russo (David Henrie), who has chosen to lead a normal, mortal life with his family, Giada (Mimi Gianopulos), Roman (Alkaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko). When Justin’s sister Alex (Gomez) brings Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) to his home seeking help, Justin realizes he must dust off his magical skills to mentor the wizard-in-training while also juggling his everyday responsibilities – and safeguarding the future of the Wizard World.
Taylor Cora also stars as Billie’s best friend Winter.
Gomez’s co-star and fellow executive producer David Henrie walked the red carpet of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building Season 4 premiere to support his small screen sister. He also teased what they have in store for fans.
The project, he said, “is something that Selena and I take very seriously and we want to get right. I think you’ll sense that when you watch it. We put a lot of love into this.”
Henrie has also heard the rumors that Gomez is only set to appear in one episode but he said that’s not true at all.
“You’re gonna see a lot,” he said when asked how much of the Russo siblings they will see in the continuation series. “[Selena] in multiple episodes so I’m not sure why people keep saying she’s only in one.”
He added, “She’s amazing as her current self playing Alex. Like the moment before we did our first scene, we had this wonderful quiet moment and it was like we hadn’t missed a beat back in character. Her and I always had great chemistry and great timing and great flow. It didn’t go anywhere. It was right there. It was magic.”
Henrie, who up next will make his directorial debut and will EP (with Gomez) the feature Monster Summer, teased what fans can expect when they join the Russo family all these years later. He promises there will “scenes that will make fans choke up,” so make sure you have tissues handy for premiere.
“We took very seriously the timeline of the original show. It’s been 12 to 15 years so there’s a big gap there; we have a mystery of what happened during that gap. You’re gonna wonder what happened to Justin and why things are a certain way. There’s all sorts of Easter eggs and mysteries for that original fan,” he said.
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