David Henrie on Why Now Was the Perfect Time to Bring Back 'Wizards of Waverly Place' | THR Video
At the 'Only Murders in the Building' season four premiere, David Henrie explains how he knew now was the time to bring back Disney's 'Wizards of Waverly Place.' Plus, he shares how proud he is of his former costar Selena Gomez.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Why was it important for you to be here tonight to support Selena?
00:03You know, when we were both teenagers, I just remember working with her and just seeing the talent.
00:10Her timing is just impeccable and her performance is impeccable.
00:12It's hard to be committed. It's hard enough to give a good performance, right, as an actor.
00:16That's a hard thing to do. But to do it on time, that's also a very, very hard thing to do.
00:21Drama, you have some time to find the moment. Comedy's got to be there immediately.
00:25To see her, to see that raw talent and to see it level up to where she is now with two of the best in the business
00:32and not just holding her own, contributing, is incredible. Incredible.
00:37What's it been like returning to the world of Wizards of Waverly Place with now Wizards Beyond Waverly Place?
00:43That's what it's called, right?
00:44Yes, it's incredibly meaningful. It really is.
00:46Because the thing that always stuck with Selena and I over the years is the fan experiences all over the world.
00:52And we'd have fans come up to us and go, hey, I come from a really tough situation in life.
00:56My family's very broken. And your show showed me that family can have each other's back and have unconditional love.
01:01It makes me want to have a family one day. That's powerful stuff.
01:04And we'd hear that again and again and again in many different ways all over the world.
01:08So enough time has passed. The original fans of the show are having kids themselves.
01:12And we were like, we should repackage the themes, the value, the spirit of the original show,
01:17the universe of the original show and present it to a whole new audience.
01:20But respect the original fan at the same time.
01:22So there's all sorts of mysteries and hooks, all sorts of things that the original fan will find very, very meaningful.
01:29Are you all done filming season one?
01:31We're over halfway through, so we're still cranking through.
01:34We can't wait to see it.
01:35And I just love, as a fan of the original show, how you and Selena have stayed friends over all these years.
01:41I feel like you don't see that with a lot of people from the Disney Channel shows of that era.
01:44And it seems like for Selena now, she's just the happiest she's ever been.
01:47What's it like for you to see her in this phase of life and just so happy?
01:50It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful.
01:52We're both family people. We love family. We love kids.
01:55And that was the culture we had in the original show.
01:58We're a family. We had each other's backs.
02:00Family's important to her. Family's important to me.
02:02Everything I do is in the family space. I love the family space.
02:05So I'm happy to see her happy.
02:11Have your kids watched the original Wizards?
02:14They have. I showed it to them a couple years ago, but they were too young.
02:18You're in peril in the show at times, and they think it's serious.
02:23So they got very terrified and started crying.
02:26So now they're a little older, they're starting to watch, and that's been good.
02:30I just directed a film called Monster Summer, which comes out in October.
02:36It's got Mel Gibson and Kevin James, Lorraine Bracco.
02:39It's like a spooky family adventure.
02:42That one I showed them a bit of, but it was too scary for them. It's PG-13.
02:50It's a balance of what you show them. It's a balance.
02:52It's like the Goonies kind of vibe.
02:54It's family-friendly, but they're five, so that's a little too young to watch.