David Henry talks about ‘meaningful’ Wizards reunion with Selena Gomez

Alex and Justin Russo are officially back on the small screen.

selena gomez Reunited with brother on screen david henry During the series premiere Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. The series (the first two episodes premiered on Disney Channel on Tuesday, October 29th) features an older (and helpless) Justin (Henry) and Alex (Gomez), a boy named Billy. Scout Justin to train young wizards in (Janice Leanne Brown).

“It was awesome,” Henry, 35, exclusively told our weekly magazine On working with Gomez, 32, again. “Those words mean a lot to me. It’s a really meaningful experience. Over the years, Selena and I have talked to so many people around the world who have told us that our show means so much to them. Because I think I met the fans, and their parents. It was there when they needed it. It was there for them, in some cases in dark places in their lives, and it was the humor that they really needed. It really made a difference in the lives of many people around the world.”

We want to bring back the “soul” of the original series. Wizards of Waverly Placeis what Henry said. us He was an important figure to him and Gomez, both as an actor and as an executive producer.

“Selena and I both thought, ‘We want to bring back the same spirit, the same themes, the same values ​​and express it to a whole new generation,'” he explained. “But at the same time, let’s give the fans of the original a big warm hug and hopefully say, ‘I want to see this with young people.'”

In the first episode of the show, it was revealed that Justin was fired from his role as Wiztech’s principal and lost his authority. Despite this, he happily enjoys mortal life with his wife Jada.Mimi Gianopoulos) and son Roman (Arcaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko). Alex, now a member of the Witchcraft Tribunal, arrives on his brother’s doorstep seeking help in teaching Billy, who is prophesied to be the only person who can save the wizarding world from a mysterious threat.

The anticipation of Henry and Gomez’s TV reunion weighed heavily on Henry, as it had been more than a decade since then. Wizards of Waverly Place It ended after airing four seasons on Disney Channel. “But when they said ‘action’ the second time, it was like Selena and I had never had a day off,” Henry said. “It was there. There was chemistry there, there was magic, and we felt it. After that, we were like, ‘We could still do it.’ Yeah! ‘”

Related: ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

Selena Gomez got her big break playing teenage wizard Alex Russo on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. The series, which ran for four seasons from 2007 to 2012, followed Alex and her brothers, Justin and Max, played by David Henry and Jake T. Austin, as they learn the ins and outs of wizardry. […]

Billy and Roman’s characters in particular take on a similar rebel-do-gooder two-shoes dynamic that Alex and Justin had in the original series. Brown, 14, said she and Thiele, 14, were a natural fit to follow in Gomez and Henry’s footsteps.

“I think in a way it just happened,” Brown said. us. “But I also feel like we’re the same on screen and off screen. He’s more like, I don’t want to call him a ‘nerd,’ but he’s definitely smarter than me.” Masu. …as [for] I have more fun using lip glosses. ”

She continued: “I think I was inspired a little bit, but my biggest inspiration was [to] Act like Janice and Arcaio are just talking, okay? Because it’s similar to our relationship in real life. ”

The first 8 episodes are Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Episodes air every Tuesday on Disney Channel and stream the next day on Disney+.