Selena Gomez Who? This Actress Almost Played Alex in Wizards of Waverly
The Wizards of Waverly Pod podcast is the only thing sustaining our nostalgia for the good old 2000s. Wizards of Waverly Place was the it show back in 2007, and we couldn't imagine anyone else but Selena Gomez playing the little rascal, Alex Russo.
Apparently, we could have had someone else instead of her, and it is someone we know! Any ideas?
In one of the episodes, Jennifer Stone, who played Alex's iconic bestie, Harper Finkle, revealed that she could have been our Alex.
The actress started off by saying that if Wizards of Waverly Place hadn't come along, she would've actually had to "quit acting" due to financial problems.
Disney originally wanted Jennifer to come out to LA to audition for a recurring role of the "friend."
Stone was frank with them and said that she couldn't "do recurring" because she simply couldn't afford it for the money Disney was offering.
The biggest network seems to be playing cheap, huh? Why are we not surprised?
Disney really wanted Jennifer involved in the show, so they had her come in and audition for Alex, the lead. The actress did her homework and showed up completely prepared for her audition.
She read for Alex, but at the very last minute, she was handed the pages for Harper because Disney felt she was "a really good fit" for her.
Jennifer then fought for herself to become a series regular, and that's the story of how we got our eccentric Harper.
Stone doesn't regret not getting the main role – she feels that she and Selena "created something beautiful" with Alex and Harper's dynamic on the show, and we couldn't agree more!
While we can't even imagine Jennifer as Alex and someone else as Harper now, this story says a lot about Disney's work ethic.
Stone reportedly disclosed the reason for her refusal to play a recurring character, but the company didn't really care.
They wanted her, and they just decided to basically create a fake Alex audition for Jennifer, only to offer her Harper again at the very end. Not cool, Disney!
Ten years later after the last movie, all seems to be well, and Jennifer Stone is not bitter about it. However, what if the show hadn't found such success and had simply failed after the pilot?
The company would have literally made the actress spend her last money to fly out for an audition that wasn't even real. Makes you really think, doesn't it?
Source: Wizards of Waverly Pod