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The Wizards Beyond Waverly Place series finale went out with a bang — and the episode wouldn’t have felt right without the return of OG star Jennifer Stone.
Warning: Spoilers below from the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place series finale.
“I had kind of mourned the fact that I was not going to be a part of the reboot just because you know I talked to David Henrie [who plays Justin Russo]. It’s about a totally different family,” Stone, 33, exclusively told Us ahead of the Tuesday, August 4, finale. “Like Selena [Gomez] kind of pops in and out, and so [David was] like, ‘It doesn’t really make sense for you to come in.’”
The actress, who portrayed Alex Russo’s (Gomez) BFF Harper Finkle on Wizards of Waverly Place from 2007 to 2012, had come to terms with the fact that there wasn’t a place for her in the highly anticipated spinoff— but that all changed when she was asked to appear in the finale.
“I’m just really protective of her,” Stone told Us of her character and the only “hesitation” she felt personally when approached with the possibility of returning for one, very special episode. “I just wanted to be really sensitive of, like, she’s not the butt of a joke. We’re not making fun of her. Like she’s very confident and self assured.”
She noted that during the episode, fans see Harper back in action and fully herself, which ultimately made the decision to return an easy one.
“I just wanted to honor the character that I grew up with and loved so much,” Stone added.
During the four-part finale, teen wizard Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) was on the search for Alex after learning that the pair are mother and daughter. Alex, meanwhile, was trapped in an alternate universe with amnesia, where she reunited with Harper, now her roommate, and her first love Mason Greyback (Gregg Sulkin).
While fans initially thought that Alex and Mason were happily back together, when Alex regained her memories she realized that Mason had already died prior to the events of the sequel series. (Harper, for her part, told Alex that they should look each other up back in the real world, hinting their friendship would be rekindled down the line.)
Despite Alex’s heartbreak on screen, Stone told Us that her reunion with Gomez, 34, behind the scenes and then working side by side was like a dream come true.
“I was a mess. The waterproof mascara ran amok,” Stone recalled of watching Gomez step behind the camera for the pivotal episode. “Literally, the table read, I cried getting to see her direct. I cried. I was a mess.”
She remembered checking in with Gomez before filming and telling each other, “OK, this is probably it. This is probably the last time we’re ever gonna play Alex and Harper with each other.”
Stone added that it was “this beautiful thing of saying goodbye to these characters” while also celebrating how her and Gomez’s lives have grown and changed since they first met.
“I find it really poetic that we said goodbye to these characters as Jen and Selena, but … we’re still going to meet in each other’s lives,” she added. “We’re still [going to] live on you past what’s on camera.”
When it comes to how Harper’s story ended, Stone told Us that there was a lot left unsaid, so she has her own ideas as to where she is now — and will be in the future.
“I picture her because she’s so giving and sweet, and loves to nurture. I think that I can see her being like a teacher at Parsons in New York,” Stone shared. “I think she’s some kind of fashion teacher. That or she has to have her own fashion line.”
Stone explained that she’s not sure whether Harper would be married to Zeke Beakerman (Dan Benson), her high school sweetheart, since there’s a big “dating pool” in New York.
“I do think she probably calls him every now and then for the Velociraptor dance,” she said with a laugh and before telling Us that perhaps Harper is now bisexual.
Stone said a shift in Harper’s sexuality is “something that I can definitely see because, I mean, Harper’s so open and creative and I can just see her loving the person.”
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is streaming on Disney+ now.
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