Janice LeAnn Brown is dishing on all things Wizards Beyond Waverly Place!!
The young actress stars in the Disney sequel series as Billie, a mischievous young wizard-in-training, who Alex (Selena Gomez) brings to Justin (David Henrie) to train.
Ahead of the season one finale, JJJ caught up with Janice and got her thoughts on the season, the future of the series and covering the theme song, “Everything Is Not What It Seems.”
Keep reading to learn more…
Check out what she shared with us below – Warning: there may be spoilers if you haven’t seen the final episodes of the season!
RELATED: Get to Know 10 Fun Facts About Janice LeAnn Brown
JJJ: What was it like recording a cover of the Wizards theme song, “Everything Is Not What It Seems,” and having your own verse?
Oh, my goodness! It was so magical! I was so nervous on the drive to the studio to make the song and everything. I was drinking my water and everything. I was like, “Oh, my gosh! Are my vocals okay?” It felt so surreal, especially because you know, when I was maybe like 6, and like hot pink glasses, and I had all pink clothes and everything, and I would tell my mom, “I’m gonna make a song one day,” and it was the fact that it was for this show, because I actually was a huge fan of the movies and everything. Also, my cousin was a big fan of the original show and everything. So I just felt like such a wholesome moment to do it, and I was so nervous. But it was really, really fun, and I’ve never heard myself in like a professional type of term, or whatever I don’t. That probably doesn’t make any sense. But yeah, it was definitely a very fun experience.
JJJ: How has it been working with most of the original Russo family?
It’s been an honor, truly. They’re so much fun, so much fun. I feel like we’re really privileged, you know, me and my castmates like Taylor [Cora], Alkaio [Thiele] and Max [Matenko], we’re really privileged because they, since they’ve already done this before, they have so many tips and tricks for us, and so much wisdom that we could just take in and everything.
I really do love it, and especially with Mr. David [Henrie], he just makes it such a fun environment, and he just really makes sure that the morals on set is straight. And really, we’re just coming from a place of like love and respect. That’s truly what you feel when you go on the set, like you’re allowed to make mistakes and everything. You don’t feel judgment for making mistakes. They’re just so welcoming and so… It’s like a family. They’re so warm and cozy, and they’re so much fun!
JJJ: How has it been filming scenes with magic, since you’re obviously not seeing the effects in person when shooting?
Well, honestly, I think for me, ’cause I already kind of still have a big imagination anyway, sometimes when I’m like in the car, I’ll just be imagining things. I don’t know why it’s just, or make up like fixed scenarios in my head while I’m listening to music, looking out the window dramatically. So, I feel like I kind of already have such a big imagination. So really, at least for me, it’s kind of fun. Sometimes it can be funny, because you’re just kind of sitting in silence. Sometimes when something happens, you and your castmates are just trying not to laugh, and it’s probably like one of the best feelings ever.
One time, Taylor was trying to, she was saying a line, and then there was magic, and there was just like a long pause of silence. You know, you have to be quiet for that magic to come in. So, in my opinion, it’s the funnest thing ever, because it’s so much fun. There’s so much laughter filming those scenes, so I love it.
JJJ: What was your favorite episode to film this season?
That’s a good question. Wow, what was my favorite episode to film? Ooh, okay. So there is this one episode, it was called “While You Were Sleep Casting,” and Billie had to wear headgear in order to not sleep cast – it’s kind of like sleep talking or sleepwalking, but for wizards. You sleep cast, so you make spells in your sleep. But we, Winter and Billie, they had a friend come over to the Russo’s house, and they all had a sleepover and everything. Billie never had a sleepover or anything. So she was sleep casting, and Winter was supposed to watch for her, but she fell asleep too, dreaming that she was a lobster.
I think tt was my favorite episode to film, because I actually never got to do a stunt ever, like ever. It was always Alkaio doing stunts, and I was like, “I want to do a stunt so bad!” I mean, I wasn’t really doing the stunt, but I got to float on the couch, like they had wires, and they lifted me up, safely, but it was so much fun. I think that’s probably like the closest. I’m probably gonna get to a son forever.
JJJ: You never know!
I know, I hope so. But that was probably my funnest episode.
JJJ: In the finale, Billie decides to, once again, go off and handle everything on her own, but she always ends up needing or getting help. Why do you think she keeps thinking she can just do it on her own and is still afraid to ask for help?
Because of the fact that she’s been, I guess, kind of rejected so many times in the past, she doesn’t want that to happen for the Russos. I think, with even just such little time that she was living with them, she truly felt like she had a purpose, and she wasn’t alone for once in her life, and she was learning things, and she was building connections, and she felt at home. Especially since Justin was teaching her so much, he didn’t want to put the home that they knew in danger. She felt like she was kind of doing him a misjustice by, I guess, kind of staying there. So, in her mind she thought that maybe leaving, just running off would be the best option, which really isn’t. And I think that’s a very important lesson for families as well, that communication is super important. You know, you have to communicate with everyone, you really, you truly do if you want a friendship, a relationship, anything to work, really. You got to communicate. And I think that was a very valuable lesson. So yeah.
JJJ: Continuing off of that, she fully accepts being a part of the Russo family now. How does this show her growth going forward, and do you think she’ll be more accepting of them and be more able to ask for help?
It’ll kind of be off and on. I feel like there might be times where maybe she’ll get triggered by something, and maybe because of for so long she was dealing with all that stuff, she might still, you know, act that way. But I think for majority of the time that it may happen, I think she’ll be a little bit more accepting about it, and communicate a lot more further, especially with the help of Justin and the boys, and also Winter and Mimi as well. I said, Mimi, [laughs], Giada!
JJJ: Also in the finale, Roman and Milo get their wizard powers. How do you think Billie will handle that in the future, with not being the only young wizard in the house? Do you think she’ll be helpful or maybe be jealous that she’s not getting all the attention anymore?
That’s a really good question. I feel like, maybe there will be times that she might get a little jealous and everything, maybe because she was so… I feel like, because she’s never really had family or never really had anything really focused on her like that before in her life and everything. She was just kind of like the scrappy, you know, little outsider everywhere she went, and she always got rejected and everything. I think she’s really kind of enjoying that love that she was maybe getting from Justin. I feel like there might be that little, I guess kind of sibling type of rivalry and everything, and I think that’s also a fun thing for maybe siblings to watch is like a family, and everything so like, if they may have had that previous problem in the house or whatever, they kind of watch that and be like, “You know, we were tripping for no reason, and look, the did the same thing, and they worked it out like that. Let’s work it out right now.” That’s another reason why. I also kind of feel like it’ll be a perfect lesson for families as well. So, I think that would be very kind of fun to see honestly.
JJJ: We don’t officially know if there’s a second season, but if there is, what would you like to see or do more of?
Hmm, I wanna see… Okay, so this is so specific, but I really, really, really, really want to see her, I guess kind of do something new. So I kind of want to see her maybe get into like a school activity. So maybe join like art class or something. I feel like she would be very good in the art department. She’s fun, she’s creative, she’s wild, so I think the fact that she kind of use that as like an outlet, and everything. I would really like to see how she may go with that.
All episodes of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place season one are now streaming on Disney+.
If you missed it, check out our first interview with Janice LeAnn Brown from before the series premiered!
0 Mga Komento