Selena Gomez and David Henrie are addressing the reason behind Jake T. Austin’s absence from the reboot of the Disney series, Wizards of Waverly Place. The duo have returned as Alex and Justin in the new episodes of the series on Disney Channel.
Apart from Gomez and Henrie, Austin too played an important role in the original show that aired from 2007 till 2012. However, the actor has not yet been brought in as either the main character or in a cameo role.
Opening up about the absence of their onscreen brother, the actress and Henrie stated the fate of the character through the dialogues in the show. Billie, played by Janice LeeAnn Brown, says to Justin, “So, you’re the guy who owns all the sandwich shops? Like, the billionaire.”
To this Justin explains, “Uh, no, that would be Max. I’m a middle school vice principal, which some would say is much cooler than being a billionaire.”
Alex then immediately quips, “I would never say that. Nobody says that.”
Meanwhile, soon after the reboot was announced by the makers of the show, Henrie claimed on his social media platform that he, along with the creators, are trying to get all of the original cast memes back under the same roof.
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However, Austin previously mentioned in an interview that he had lost touch with many of his co-stars during the course of time. While speaking to Flaunt, the actor revealed, “For a while, I was really enveloped in the characters I was playing and connected to them, but as I was growing up in front of the camera and going through puberty and going through my life, I kind of lost sight of who I was as a person.”
However, the Love On crooner has still been in contact with Austin. In last month’s video for Vanity Fair, Gomez questioned the actor over not picking up her calls. She asked, “Jake, why don’t you ever answer my texts?”
She further revealed, “You know, he’s… He got a little handsome. He had all the girls; I remember that. I’m complimenting you.”
Wizards of Waverly Place is available to stream on Disney+.
