David Henrie Dishes on ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place,’ New Cast & Reuniting with Selena Gomez!

David Henrie can’t believe Wizards Beyond Waverly Palace is happening, either.

The spinoff to the iconic Disney Channel show about the magical Russo family has been a years-long pipe dream for the actor behind Justin Russo and Selena Gomez, who played Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place.

“Selena and I sat around for so many years, just talking about what the characters would be doing with no expectation that we’re doing a sequel show or a reboot or anything like that,” David told J-14 Magazine exclusively, explaining that he and Selena stayed good friends since the Wizards of Waverly Place‘s final episode in 2012.

“Then, she became good friends with my wife, and so the three of us would be sitting around talking about it, having a glass of wine,” he recalled. “And then eventually it got to the point where we were like, ‘You know what? We should just go sit and have the same conversation in front of Disney, ’cause I think we got something,'” he said, adding with a laugh: “Obviously no wine, but we should sit in front of them and have this conversation and pitched them a show.”

Now, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place will be premiering on Disney Channel on Tuesday, Oct. 29, just in time for Halloween! David and Selena served as executive producers on the spinoff, following a grown-up Justin Russo and his family living an ordinary human life, until Alex brings along a troubled yet powerful witch named Billie, played by Janice LeAnn Brown.

“It’s funny ’cause I never really watched a show like that,” Janice told J-14, explaining that she was a big fan of the 2009 movie based on the show. “Like I maybe watched like one or two seasons, but I was a big fan of the movie, so I watched the movie all the time.”

However, after she booked the show, she went on to binge-watch the show, naturally. Getting advice from Selena and David didn’t hurt, either.

“Selena told me, ‘don’t let anybody like block my sunlight to just stay true to myself,'” she gushed. “And you know, ‘It doesn’t matter what people may say about me, but all that matters is what I say about myself. So to just speak positivity into myself instead of negativity.'”

One element David and Selena wanted to make sure this new era of Wizards had was making a show that’s “in this spirit of the original.”

“So a show that’s for kids as well as adults who could sit down and watch it,” he added. “We didn’t want to make some edgy, 180 degree departure from the original show and do some single cam adult edgy thing. We really wanted to pass this down to another generation and have the original fan come on the ride with us.”

As for details on a second season, David’s keeping mum — although he does have ideas if all things go well.

“I know a lot about what the second season would be if we get picked up,” he revealed. “On the producing side, I talk about all this stuff with the guys, so, I kind of know what it would be.”

“I will say, I think this first season for Justin is really about rebirth — he starts out completely neglecting the magical side of his past and Billie comes into his life and rebirth that side of him,” he revealed. “So if season one is just him getting back on his feet, season two, I think, naturally, would be him really settling into that and continuing to take hold of that.”

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