There was almost a Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff — and honestly, it sounds like a missed opportunity.
Back in 2012 when the show wrapped, there was apparently talk of a spinoff focusing on Alex Russo and Harper Finkle, but Selena Gomez turned it down.
According to Jennifer Stone, who played Harper on the series, Selena had too much going on for another show.
"Now, I don't know how true this is, but I was told it was pitched to Selena — and I'll have to ask her this because I've actually never asked her this. But I was told that it was pitched to Selena to do a Harper-Alex spinoff," she said on her podcast, Wizards of Waverly Pod.
She continued, "That's what I was told. I don't know how true that is; I don't know if that really happened. I'm not sure Selena even remembers that."
Looking back, her costar and podcast cohost David DeLuise suggested that the show's fourth season was almost like a spinoff because Alex and Harper had moved into their own apartment together.
Jennifer agreed, saying it felt like they were "setting up" for a spinoff with that storyline.
She added that she understands why Selena said no, especially considering "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, and honestly, at the time, I wanted to move forward, too. So, it just didn't make sense," Jennifer said.
Thinking about it now, Jennifer admits it "would have been great," but she knows they were both in different parts of their lives at the time.
"The thing is, is like, where we both were at that time, we just wanted to explore other things," Jennifer shared. "After 100 episodes playing the same person...there comes a time where it's like, you need some distance to appreciate it even more."
At this point in her life, Jennifer says she definitely has more of an appreciation for Harper — and a spinoff or reboot could be a real possibility.
When Selena was asked about a potential reboot last year, she told Extra, "Hands down, I would love that."
Fingers crossed for more Wizards in the future! You can hear all that Jennifer had to say below.
