David Henrie is all the time going to really feel like an enormous brother to Selena Gomez.
The actor, who starred as her older brother on Wizards of Waverly Place from 2007 to 2012, has remained tight with Gomez, 32, within the years for the reason that present ended, and the actors recently reunited for a new iteration of the beloved Disney Channel series.
On the L.A. premiere of Henrie’s directorial debut Monster Summer, starring Mel Gibson, he tells PEOPLE it was “superior” to reprise his character alongside Gomez.
“It was a dream come true. [She] and I’ve stored in such good contact and stay good mates,” he says.
Reflecting on how the singer, actress and make-up mogul has developed through the years he is identified her, Henrie, 35, says, “She’s continued to get an increasing number of mature. She’s actually settling into herself and her personal and actually proudly owning her life.”
He provides that it is “been great to see her proceed to develop into a wonderful lady.”
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place — which Gomez, 32, solely visitor stars in for the pilot episode, although she is an government producer alongside Henrie — premieres subsequent month on Disney Channel, and follows an grownup Justin Russo (Henrie) who has “chosen to steer a standard, mortal life together with his household” when Alex (Gomez) lands on his doorstep with Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a younger wizard in want of steerage.
Henrie says of the brand new sequence, “Attending to go the wand off to an entire new era — however on the similar time give an enormous, heat hug to our OG followers — is a dream come true for each of us.”
“It is nuts,” he continues. “As I used to be driving right here, we handed the Wizards poster on Sundown, and also you see that factor and also you’re identical to, ‘Whoa. It is actually occurring. It is actually occurring.’ It is loopy.”
Gomez feels equally satisfied to be returning to the Wizard World greater than a decade later. The singer informed the Associated Press final month that it was “like a dream” to be again on set.
“I really really feel prefer it was the place I began and I will all the time be pleased about that point and I simply hope that this new chapter can convey an entire new viewers pleasure the identical method that we did once we have been youthful.”
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Wizards Past Waverly Place premieres Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET on Disney Channel and might be streaming the following day on Disney+.