'Wizards Of Waverly Place' Stars Spills On What It Was Really Like Working With Disney

Daniel Samonas, David DeLuise, and Jennifer Stone are sharing behind-the-scenes details about their experiences working for Disney Channel.

While working for Disney Channel, most of the stars were considered children or teenagers, including Samonas and Stone, who revealed how Disney approached filming with their actors and actresses.

Samonas, DeLuise, and Stone starred on the hit show 'Wizards Of Waverly Place' alongside Selena Gomez and David Henrie. The series aired from 2007 to 2012, and it was recently announced that it is getting a reboot.

When reflecting back on their time with the network, Samonas spilled details about what it was like kissing Selena Gomez while she was dating Nick Jonas, something he referred to as the "most notable [and] ridiculous " thing he experienced when on the show.

"Nobody talked to me about the actual kiss," he recalled. "She was dating Nick Jonas at the time, and so that was kind of like, 'Oh they're going to make [her] kiss another dude."

Samonas met Jonas before they shot the kissing scene, which he says was awkward, but nothing bad ever came of it. "So, we go to do the kiss, no rehearsals because we're doing one and done, we're moving on, we're not going to make Selena do multiple kisses with another dude," he explained.

"So, I kissed her like I would kiss somebody [that] I was on a date with, sorry Selena," but the producers immediately cut the scene and pulled him aside to inform him he did it wrong. "This is not how we do this on the show," he recalled.

David DeLuise, who played Alex Russo's dad, Jerry Russo, stood up for Samonas, blaming Disney for not rehearsing or being clear about their vision.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he told the former child star, adding that he "did what an actor does," which is "I'm going to make this as real as possible."

"And you should have been told, 'This is how we do this on the show,'" he added. "You should have been given that information 100% prior."

Jennifer Stone, who played Harper Finkle on the show, said, "Well, there was a lot of stuff that Disney just thought you knew. There was a lot of stuff that was just unsaid."

Another Disney Channel actress, Anneliese van der Pol, recently appeared on a podcast where she accused Disney of racism.

According to the 'That's So Raven' actress, the show was holding auditions for the lead, whose character was Molly, so she went to try out for the role. However, she didn't get it.

She says they moved forward, but "when they filmed, they realized that Raven was the funniest one and had a following, and so they bumped her up to first position."

"When I went into audition, the show was called 'Absolutely Psychic'. It wasn't called 'That's So Raven'," Anneliese told Christy Carlson Romano on the 'Vulnerable' podcast segment. "At the time, Raven [Symoné] wasn't the lead. She was the sidekick."

Anneliese auditioned again for the sidekick role, which she ended up getting. "I think the character's name was Molly and then Emma, and then it became Chelsea," she revealed on the podcast, "And I think that was kind of like racism at a low level. I guess if that’s even a possibility."

"They couldn't really see a black girl leading a show. They only saw her as a sidekick," she added.

These claims come after the bombshell docuseries, 'Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV' was released.

The 'Quiet on Set' docuseries explored the behind-the-scenes aspects of popular television shows from the 1990s and 2000s, and what it was like for child actors to work for the network.

While shows such as 'Drake & Josh,' 'The Amanda Show,' and 'Zoey 101' brought happiness to viewers, what was going on backstage was traumatizing for some.

For example, former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider faced accusations and controversies about his behavior and conduct while working with young actors, some of which included verbal abuse, creating a toxic work environment, and favoritism.

There were also claims that Schneider behaved inappropriately towards young actors, including emotional manipulation and creating a demanding and stressful atmosphere on set.

Schneider has since apologized.