50 Fun Facts About Wizards of Waverly Place

In which New York City neighbourhood is Waverly Place, home of the Russo family?

One academic critic pointed out that a working-class family running a sandwich shop could never afford to live there.

What kind of business do Jerry and Theresa Russo run on the ground floor of their building?

In the finale Max, having lost the family competition, becomes its new manager with investment from the wizard world.

According to the rules of the Wizard World, what happens once the Russo children finish their training?

Jerry won his own family's competition as a teenager but gave up his powers to marry Theresa, a mortal; they passed to his brother Kelbo.

Who wins the family wizard competition in the series finale?

Justin also keeps his powers by becoming headmaster of WizTech, so only Max ends up mortal.

What is the name of Alex's best friend, who moves in with the Russos in season three?

Actress Jennifer Stone originally planned to audition for Alex and said she 'fought' to become a series regular.

Alex's boyfriend Mason Greyback is what kind of creature?

Justin's girlfriend Juliet van Heusen, played by Bridgit Mendler, is the vampire; Gregg Sulkin returned as Mason in the sequel's final season.

What is the name of the boarding school for young wizards that Justin ends up running?

Creator Todd Greenwald once floated a prequel about Jerry's own high-school years there.

In season four, Max is temporarily turned into a younger girl by a spell. What was her name?

Bailee Madison played her while Jake T. Austin took a break from the show.

Who created Wizards of Waverly Place, having previously worked on the first season of Hannah Montana?

Disney hired him after seeing a pilot he had made for NBC, and handed him the network's own idea of a show about a family of wizards.

When executive producer Peter Murrieta joined the project, what was the show's working title?

The kids were named Brooke, Sully and Max O'Malley at that stage, then Alexa, Aaron and Max Esposito, before Murrieta changed the surname to Russo.

The unaired pilot was set in a magic store and featured how many siblings?

They were named Jordan and Julia; David DeLuise and Jake T. Austin were not in that pilot at all.

Selena Gomez's unaired Disney pilot 'Arwin!' was a spin-off of which show?

The other, Stevie Sanchez, was a Lizzie McGuire spin-off; Disney had first spotted her at an open casting call in Texas at age twelve.

What is the title of the theme song, sung by Selena Gomez?

Gomez said she modelled Alex's mannerisms on Jennifer Aniston's Rachel Green from Friends.

David Henrie, who played Justin, wrote which two episodes of the series?

Henrie also played Ted Mosby's future son Luke on How I Met Your Mother.

How many viewers watched the one-hour series finale, 'Who Will Be the Family Wizard?', in January 2012?

It remains the highest-rated finale of any Disney Channel series; the 2007 premiere had drawn 5.9 million.

How many Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Program did the franchise win in total?

The series won in 2009 and 2012, and the 2009 movie won in 2010.

Where was Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie filmed on location?

The plot has Alex accidentally casting a spell so that her parents never met; it drew 11.4 million viewers, second only to High School Musical 2 among Disney Channel movie premieres at the time.

In the movie, what powerful magical object can reverse any spell or grant any wish?

Street magician Archie wants it to turn his parrot Giselle back into a human, and Giselle ends up stealing it.

In The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, the Russos travel to which country for a family reunion?

Alex accidentally creates good and evil versions of herself; the special premiered on March 15, 2013 to 5.9 million viewers.

In Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, where does Justin live a normal life with his family?

It is set fifteen years after the original; his sons are Roman and Milo and his mortal wife is Giada.

What is revealed about young wizard Billie in the sequel's second-season finale?

Alex and Damien had hidden her at WizTech and erased all memory of her to protect her from her paternal grandfather.

Who plays Billie in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place?

The sequel premiered on October 29, 2024 and concluded on August 4, 2026, with Jennifer Stone and Gregg Sulkin guesting in the final season.

Under what working title did Disney first order the sequel pilot in January 2024?

Henrie was signed as a regular and Gomez as a recurring guest; the full title was announced in May 2024.

Selena Gomez began her acting career at age ten on which children's series?

She was named after the Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla and grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Selena Gomez founded which cosmetics company, later valued at around $2 billion?

She is also the most-followed woman on Instagram and has starred in Only Murders in the Building since 2021.

On How I Met Your Mother, David Henrie played whose future son?

Before Wizards he had also played Cory's friend Larry on That's So Raven.

Jake T. Austin was the original voice of which Nickelodeon character, Dora's cousin?

He was later the original Jesus Foster on The Fosters and appeared in Hotel for Dogs and Rio.

Jennifer Stone, who played Harper, left acting in 2019 to qualify in which profession?

She studied it to better understand her own type 1 diabetes and finished school just as the COVID-19 pandemic broke.

In 2010 Jennifer Stone played the title role in a film based on which Louise Fitzhugh children's book?

She later admitted she had never read the book before starring in Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars.

David DeLuise and Jennifer Stone launched a rewatch podcast in February 2023. What is it called?

It runs on Christy Carlson Romano's PodCo network, and Selena Gomez has appeared as a guest.

The 2019 Disney adaptation 'Wizards of Warna Walk' was set in which city?

It ran 14 episodes, filmed at Pinewood Studios in Johor, Malaysia; executives had also considered adapting Hannah Montana.

At which studio was Wizards of Waverly Place filmed?

Producer Murrieta wrote the Russos as mixed-race - Italian, Mexican and American - and said the sibling squabbles resembled his own childhood.

Which guest character, played by Hayley Kiyoko, did producer Murrieta call a potential love interest for Alex?

Murrieta said the creative team intended Alex to be openly bisexual but could not make it explicit at the time.

How many viewers watched the series premiere on October 12, 2007?

It aired the same night as the network's premiere of Twitches Too.

Which two Disney Channel hits, alongside Lizzie McGuire, was Wizards designed to follow?

The show explores the fantasy of having magic powers the way Hannah Montana explores the fantasy of being a pop star.

What was the subtitle of the second Nintendo DS game based on the show, released in November 2010?

A soundtrack album had come out on August 4, 2009, weeks before the movie premiered.

How far into the show's run does Alex finally let Harper in on the family secret?

Even so, the existence of wizards still had to stay hidden from the wider mortal world.

Before Wizards of Waverly Place's final season, Alex and Justin are tricked into exposing wizards to whom?

Both are demoted in the competition; Alex quits, then rejoins so she can keep dating Mason.

In which US state was Selena Gomez born?

Grand Prairie is a suburb of Dallas; she left regular school after seventh grade and moved to Los Angeles.

Which 2024 film earned Selena Gomez a Cannes Film Festival award as part of its ensemble?

Her fourth album, I Said I Love You First, was made with her husband Benny Blanco and released in 2025.

Which older sitcom did critics most often compare Wizards to for its magical elements?

Reviewers also said the show capitalized on the Harry Potter boom, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch is cited as a forerunner.

In which month and year did Wizards Beyond Waverly Place air its final episode?

It ran for two seasons after its October 2024 premiere.

In the 2009 TV movie, what does Alex's accidental spell change about history?

The film, written by Dan Berendsen, follows the Russos on a Caribbean vacation and drew 11.4 million viewers.

Which actress played Juliet van Heusen, Justin's vampire girlfriend?

Gregg Sulkin, who played Alex's werewolf boyfriend Mason, was the other major recurring love interest.

To whom were Jerry Russo's powers transferred when he gave them up to marry Theresa?

Jerry had won his own family's competition as a teenager but relinquished his powers because Theresa is a mortal.

Which Friends character's mannerisms did Selena Gomez borrow for her portrayal of Alex?

Gomez also asked for Alex to stay edgy to resemble her own style; critics called the character a 'wisecracking underachiever'.

Who played Maxine, the girl version of Max, while Jake T. Austin took a hiatus?

Max's fourth-season transformation was caused by a magic spell and let Austin step away from the show temporarily.

Selena Gomez's unaired pilot Stevie Sanchez was a spin-off of which Disney series?

Neither Stevie Sanchez nor her other pilot, the Suite Life spin-off Arwin!, was green-lit before she landed Wizards.

Where was the Malaysian adaptation Wizards of Warna Walk filmed?

The 14-episode adaptation was shot over two months and aired across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Who directed the 2013 special The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex?

Gomez served as an executive producer on the special, which premiered on March 15, 2013 to 5.9 million viewers.