Starting out in the entertainment industry as a kid could have its challenges. But Wizards Beyond Waverly Place stars Alkaio Thiele, Max Matenko and Taylor Cora had two pros to help them through it: David Henrie and Selena Gomez, who were just teenagers when they got their start on Wizards of Waverly Place back in 2007.

“Selena Gomez is super humble. She’s very nice. She’s like, ‘If you ever have a problem, just call.’ She’s just the nicest, most relatable person,” Matenko, who plays Henrie’s onscreen son, Milo, told DECIDER, while Cora, who plays their friend Winter, added, “I really love David Henrie. I think he’s so cool, and he’s wise, and he helps us a lot.”

The highly anticipated sequel series follows a grown-up Justin Russo (Henrie) — now a husband and father of two sons — as he abandons his normal, mortal life to help a young powerful wizard in training named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown). Meanwhile, his sons Roman and Milo find themselves getting into all sorts of magical hijinks with their new friend.

Cora — who didn’t think she had been born when the OG show was airing (feel old yet?) — said she didn’t want to be too “influenced” by previous characters like Jennifer Stone’s Harper. However, Thiele, who plays Roman, revealed that he took “a lot” of inspiration from his onscreen dad.

“When I found out I got the role, I really took a deep dive into Justin’s character and brought those original elements into Roman while also creating this new, fun character,” he said, while Matenko noted that he modeled some of Milo’s traits after Jake T. Austin’s Max Russo, telling us, “I tried to put a little bit of my own ideas into it, mix it with some of Max’s character, and then some of David Henrie’s advice on how to say lines and stuff.”

We got to chat with Thiele, Matenko and Cora via Zoom, where they told us all about working with the Disney Channel icons, how they crafted their characters, and which episode of the reboot was their favorite to film. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: First of all, congratulations to all of you for getting to be in a reboot of such an iconic show. Did you guys grow up watching Wizards of Waverly Place? And what was your reaction to finding out you’d be on this show?

TAYLOR CORA: I was a little young. I don’t think I was born yet, actually. So I did not grow up watching it. But I did watch it during the auditioning process, just one episode in the last season for quality reasons. When I did find out I got the role – it’s honestly a long story. I was at school, and I had a field trip that day. My mom picked me up early when she found out because she had found out hours before and was just celebrating without me. She picked me up early for a “family emergency.” I was super worried. But on the ride home, she had her gospel music on max and was just like, “Praise the Lord. Hallelujah!” I was so confused because that’s not something you would do during a family emergency. When we got home, she sat me down on the couch and went into a long speech about nothing. I didn’t even know what she was talking about until she finally got to the point. Like, “You’re going to be working with Selena Gomez. Yay!” When it really settled in, I just cried. I just bawled like a baby. It really is such an honor. I’m so blessed to be here. 

MAX MATENKO: I was jumping up and down like crazy because I had never gotten a big role like this before. I was just like, “Oh, my God, this is crazy.” And then to work with Selena Gomez and David Henrie and this wonderful cast, it’s like, “How did my life change in five seconds from that to this?” That was the best moment of my life, probably. 

What was your favorite part about working with David and Selena both on-screen and off-screen as executive producers? What’s something about them that people might not know/might be surprised to hear?

MAX: Selena Gomez is super humble. She’s very nice. She’s like, “If you ever have a problem, just call.” She’s just the nicest, most relatable person. 

TAYLOR: I really love David Henrie. I think he’s so cool, and he’s wise, and he helps us a lot. Something you might not know about him is that he’s good at skateboarding. 

ALKAIO THIELE: That’s what I was going to say!

TAYLOR: Haha, I said it first!

ALKAIO: He can skateboard, which you might see at some point. Something you might not know about David is that he’s an excellent ping pong player. We have some intense ping pong tournaments, and David is usually the winner of them. 

MAX: I come in third. I’m not competitive at all.

As far as drawing comparisons to the original show, I feel like Roman is the Justin of the show, Milo is like a young Max and Winter reminds me of Harper. How much inspiration, if any,  did you draw from those characters? 

ALKAIO: A lot. When I found out I got the role, I really took a deep dive into Justin’s character and brought those original elements into Roman while also creating this new, fun character. 

TAYLOR: I had watched one episode for the auditioning process, so I kind of took inspiration, but I didn’t watch too many episodes so that I wouldn’t get too influenced. I realized that even when putting my own spin on the character, I end up just acting like Harper anyway.

MAX: I wasn’t really sure if my character was smart or not so smart, athletic or not so athletic. I was kind of on the fence on how I should play my character. I had a couple of ideas, but then I went back and watched the show, and it was so amazing. I just watched the whole thing, binge-watched it in one month. I kind of saw a bit of Max in my character in terms of not the smartest but really fun, nice, athletic. I tried to put a little bit of my own ideas into it, mix it with some of Max’s character, and then some of David Henrie’s advice on how to say lines and stuff. And that’s how I portrayed Milo. 

What episode was your favorite to film and why? Or if you have any favorite on-set memories you can share.

ALKAIO: My favorite episode to film was probably an episode where Justin creates a clubhouse for us to play in, kind of like a playhouse, and it’s like a kid’s dream. We had a ball pit, and a candy tree, and a puppy field, and that was a really fun set. That was a really fun time. 

TAYLOR: I have two favorite episodes, actually, now that you mention it. One of my favorite episodes is the Halloween episode, mostly because that was the first episode that I filmed as Winter and that really helped me get a sense of her character. And also it was just super fun because I was in a unicorn costume. And then my second favorite episode is the TK, when I had to pretend to be a fancy influencer so that I could get into this fancy restaurant called TK. I got to talk like this, and I got to talk on my phone, and I just had to be super bougie and rude. 

ALKAIO:  I really love the episodes when the character changes, and you’re not your typical character. It’s unnatural for it to be somebody else.

MAX: My favorite episode is an episode where they were going out to the Wizard World and they didn’t want Justin and Giada to know so I had to cover up for them and pretend to voice them. So I was on screen for Billie like, “Just a second, I’m finishing my girl makeup!” And then for Roman, I was like, “I’m finishing up everything else. Let me finish my schoolwork. Got some puberty going on.” That was probably my favorite part because, like Alkaio said, it’s so much fun to voice different roles in one episode. If I were to say one more, I would just say that there’s one where we’re on a float. That’s really fun because we have to fall down, and our hair is going everywhere because they have fans. We have to just be like, “Ahh!” And that was really fun.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is currently streaming on Disney+.