Wizard of Waverly Place would be almost an entirely different show if Jennifer Stone got the lead role of Alex Russo. During the premiere episode of PodCo’s Wizards of Waverly Pod, former costars-turned-co-hosts Jennifer Stone, who starred as Harper Finkle, and David DeLuise, who played by Jerry Russo, gets candid on some of the show’s behind-the-scenes casting details.
While gushing in the same, Stone revealed she was initially prepared to audition for the role of Alex, played by Selena Gomez. The actress said, “[Disney] had me come out and audition for Alex, then at the last minute they handed me the Harper slides.” Stone added, “They were like, ‘No, I think you’d be a good fit for this.'” Stone further said, “And then I fought for it to be a series regular.”
Stone then said she was completely ready to be Alex, having ‘done the homework,’ prepared the lines and dressed as the character. But at the last minute, she had to perform a cold read for Harper. Meanwhile, DeLuise, for his part, wasn’t in the cast of the original pilot, which started as The Amazing O’Malleys.
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In the first rendition of the show, the Russo’s iconic subway shop was not selling their famous sandwiches but was a magic shop, and Jake T. Austin, who played Alex’s goofy younger brother Max, was not in the cast either. Alex was also supposed to be twins with Justin (David Henrie), who ultimately became her older brother.
Stone shared, “Selena and David were twins, which I was like ‘That’s not going to work.’ They were huge changes, and the show was totally different.” Jennifer Stone found success as a series regular for the whole of Wizards. However, she stepped away from acting after the show ended in 2012, with the exception of a few projects. Stone came back to the limelight in an unexpected way in 2020 when she revealed she graduated from nursing school the previous December and was officially a registered nurse.