Selena Gomez Thanks Wizards Beyond Waverly Place For Making the Little Girl in Me So Happy

Selena Gomez is reflecting on her time on Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, Disney+’s sequel series to Wizards of Waverly Place. The Emmy-nominated actress took to her Instagram to share a carousel of photos from the show’s set of herself with David Henrie and castmembers. “NOTHING will ever beat making little kids laugh,” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you @disneywizardsseries for making the little girl in me so happy!! Hope you guys watch!!” Gomez guest starred in the pilot episode, “Everything is Not What it Seems,” when she introduced her brother, Justin (Henrie) to Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), the young wizard who needs training from the best in order to save the world. The Only Murders in the Building star will appear in more episodes throughout the first season to move the story forward (though it’s unclear how many). Ahead of the show’s Los Angeles premiere in October, the Emilia Pérez star told The Hollywood Reporter that returning to Waverly Place felt “like going home.” She added, “It was so funny because when I showed it to my mom, she literally just died laughing. She goes, ‘You two just still have it.’ Because I think we bring that out in each other.’” Gomez and Henrie also opened up about their longtime friendship since first starring in Wizards of Waverly Place at the start of their careers. “I think for me, it’s so important that I have someone in my life that knew me before,” she said. “Most of my friends are definitely people that I’ve learned to love and trust, but David was there the first time I ever experienced any sort of fame-like things, and I think he saw and continues to see through that. He’ll tell me the truth, and I like that.” In a separate conversation with THR tied to the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place pilot episode, showrunners Scott Thomas and Jed Elinoff explained they spoke to Gomez and Henrie about the plot of the sequel series and why now was the right time for it. “They would talk about where they thought their characters were and the fun of Selena really saying how important David was to her as a brother figure in her life,” Elinoff said. “There’s this moment in the pilot where she talks about how, ‘I had you. I needed you, and I had you in my life.’ And then the idea that Selena would go, ‘This little girl needs you, and only you can do this.’ Selena seemed to resonate with that, David resonated with it and it resonated with us. That idea of, ‘Here’s a kid who needs the help of only a Russo.’ There’s something about being a Russo that was important and made it possible for somebody to overcome odds that they weren’t capable of doing by themselves.” The first nine episodes of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place are on Disney+ now.