Jennifer Stone is best known for portraying Selena Gomez‘s on-screen bestie Harper Finkle in the fan-favorite Disney Channel original series Wizards of Waverly Place. Although Wizards re-runs are always a true blessing, you have most likely seen a lot less of Jennifer since the show wrapped in 2012. That’s because the actress took a much deserved break from the whirlwind that was Disney Channel.
Years have passed, and now the talented 24 year old is ready to dive back into it all. The Disney Channel alum is starring in the movie Santa Girl, in which she’ll be portraying the daughter of old Saint Nick. We caught up with Jennifer to chat about her big acting comeback, and she even let us in on what her friendship with Selena has been like post-Wizards.
What has Jennifer Stone been doing since Wizards of Waverly Place wrapped?
She tells us, “I took some time off to go to school. Wizards was such a whirlwind, and it was such a crazy change for me. I just went from being a working actor to – all of a sudden – being on people’s radar. So I just wanted to take a break and step outside of the limelight for a bit. And just sort of pursue other interests and make sure that acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life. After I took some time and took a lot of classes, I realized that, yeah, acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I love it more than anything.”
When Selena recently went public about her kidney transplant, both Jennifer and Selena’s on-screen brother Jake. T. Austin took to Instagram to let the world know just how proud they are of their co-star and wish her well. It’s seriously inspiring to see the cast supporting one another all these years later, and Jennifer confirmed that she and Selena have kept in touch over the years. Not only that, but Selena has remained to be the same down-to-earth girl she met at auditions.
Are Jennifer Stone and Selena Gomez still friends?
“We’ve definitely kept in touch. I love the fact that she is still that down-home Texas girl. You know what I mean? Even with all of the publicity and all of the stuff going on in her life, whether it’s the good or the challenging, she’s always just that girl that grew up in Texas. I’m from Texas, too, so I can always get down with a good Texas girl,” the actress exclusively spills to J-14.
Jennifer recalls the moment she and Selena truly hit it off.
“We met at the audition because we read together in the audition. Then, when we really bonded was she came over to my house in Texas for a sleepover. We watched this scary movie and my dad decided it would be a good idea to go outside and bang on the window. We were both scared crapless! I think if you can make each other laugh and be scared together, I think that really bonds you,” she said to us.
Selena isn’t the only one Jennifer has kept in touch with though. The whole Wizards fam attended David Henrie‘s wedding, and it was truly a moment the whole squad cherished deeply.
“I still keep in touch with everybody. I mean, thank God for modern technology! We keep in touch over text and everything. I see David DeLuise all the time. I teach at his school out here. So, I keep in touch with all of them through text,” Jennifer said. “Maria [Canals Barrera]‘s birthday was just the other day, so I texted her. We all saw each other at David’s wedding just recently which was really cool to be together, to share that moment in his life when he was obviously taking a very big step.”
Will there be a Wizards of Waverly Place reunion?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere down the line we did another reunion. Obviously, I think the challenge is getting all of us together because we’re all doing different things and we’re all over the place. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. We don’t have any plans right now for it to happen, but I know we would love to work together again. My dream as to what it would be? I would to love to do a ‘Where are they now?’ kind of reunion. To see how our characters have developed beyond the series and maybe incorporate that we haven’t seen each other in a while and we’re coming back together for some reason. I’m sure some magical reason. I think that would be a really cool way of bringing us all back together,” she said.
Although time has definitely passed since the show wrapped, Jennifer’s character Harper still lives on. The younger generation may not recognize her too often, but millennials who grew up watching the show still approach her from time to time.
“It’s been really cool because the younger kids don’t know who I am because they watch the newer shows. It’s funny because the audience that watched Wizards has really grown with us. That’s what’s really neat. I’ve gotten to see my fans grow up with me, a little bit. And so, I get a lot of college-aged kids like ‘Oh, my God, that was my favorite show!’ It’s really sweet because I still – in my brain – expect them to be kids and they’re so not anymore.”
What’s next for Jennifer?
Next up for Jennifer is Santa Girl, a TV movie about Santa’s daughter. What a comeback!
“I play Cassie Claus who is Santa Claus’ daughter which is quite the lineage to live up to. She is betrothed to Jack Frost’s son and she’s not as keen on the whole Christmas and joy all the time. She’s little off the beaten track. So, before she has to take on the responsibility of Christmas and all that it has to offer, she wants to experience life just as a regular girl. So, she comes to an agreement with her dad that she can go to college, she can experience regular life, and then she’ll come back and take on her responsibilities. But, of course, when she goes to experience real life, she realized that she wants to do things a little different,” she told us.
As for the Christmas-themed wardrobe that’s in store, she knows that she can handle anything after wearing Harper’s wild outfits.
“I can’t even imagine what kind of stuff I’m gonna be wearing. After Harper I can really wear anything and it’s gonna seem mundane. I just picture a lot of Cassie going to take the Santa wardrobe and then transition it into normalcy. I can’t imagine it’s going to be a smooth transition.”
Is there going to be a Mean Girls 3?
Jennifer starred in Mean Girls 2, so we just had to ask – would she be down for a third movie? Turns out, she’s still close with the cast and thinks it would be a great idae.
“I would definitely do Mean Girls 3 just because like one of my best friends from that movie is because, ironically, they casted Maiara Walsh to play the one that picked on me all the time in that movie, but she’s become one of my best friends in real life. I always said so many times that I’m so thankful that movie happened because we would’ve never probably met each other or really gotten to know each other. As to what I think would happen…oh, Lord. I guess I could cheat because, at the end there’s Mean Girls 2, they’re going off to college. I would like to see something about them in college. I think that would be really cool. Or coming home for the summer.”
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