While Selena Gomez is currently making headlines for her musical achievements and television projects, she initially rose to fame through Disney’s popular comedy series Wizards of Waverly Place. Playing the role of Alex Russo and entertaining millions of fans, the singer was later sought to appear in a spin-off series of the Disney show.
However, according to reports, Selena Gomez quite casually declined the offer for a spinoff that was also supposed to feature her Wizards of Waverly Place co-star Jennifer Stone. As per Stone, the singer gave her scheduling issues as reasons for turning down the spin-off pitch. But surprisingly, after turning down the spin-off show, Gomez somehow accepted the offer for Wizards Of Waverly Place Sequel.
Selena Gomez Turned Down Wizards Of Waverly Place Spinoff
After rising to fame as a Disney star following her appearance in Wizards Of Waverly Place, Selena Gomez turned into a global icon and a renowned singer. Playing the role of Alex Russo in the Disney show, Gomez catapulted her onscreen fame alongside her co-stars Jennifer Stone who portrayed Harper Finkle, and David Henrie who played Justin Russo.
Soon after Wizards of Waverly Place wrapped up in 2012, Disney Studios and the producers decided to come up with a spinoff show majorly focusing on Harper-Alex friendship. The idea was then pitched to Selena Gomez and Jennifer Stone, who were supposed to be the titular characters. Stone later noted during an episode of Wizards of Waverly Pod, how the spinoff almost happened, until Gomez refused.
“I don’t know how true this is, but I was told that it was pitched to Selena to do a Harper-Alex spinoff, and she said no because she had a lot of other things going on. I get it, she had a million other things going on and she wanted to move forward. Honestly, at the time, I wanted to move forward too. Looking back, it would have been great, but the thing is, where we both were at the time — like, we just wanted to explore other things.”
Selena Gomez had previously mentioned to Vanity Fair how she got “triggered” by her Disney past, and was desperate to move on from it and create a fame of her own while exploring new possibilities. Perhaps that’s the reason why the singer turned down the spinoff offer after wrapping up Wizards of Waverly Place.
Selena Gomez Is Set to Appear in Wizards Of Waverly Place Sequel
However, surprisingly after Jennifer Stone revealed how Selena Gomez quite casually declined the spinoff offer, the singer recently made headlines for associating with Disney for a Wizards Of Waverly Place sequel. According to reports from Deadline, Gomez is set to return and reunite with her Disney co-star David Henrie.
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Not just that, Selena Gomez is also set to produce the sequel with David Henrie, who previously played her onscreen sibling Justin Russo in the 2007 show. Gomez is further set to appear as a guest star in the pilot for the Disney Channel sequel as Alex Russo, the character that helped launch her career, alongside Henrie who will be reprising his role as Justin Russo.
Joined by new cast members Janice LeAnn Brown, Alkaio Thiele, and Mimi Gianopulos, the revival pilot for the Wizards Of Waverly Place sequel comes from writers and executive producers Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas. The logline picks up after a mysterious incident happens at WizTech, where adult Justin Russo has left his wizard powers behind to lead a normal life.
Wizards of Waverly Place, available for streaming on Disney+.
