On October 12, 2007, Maria Canals-Barrera helped introduce the world to the Russo family on Disney Channel. Wizards of Waverly Place made a massive splash on the network, becoming one of its most famous and thriving series ever. Maria Canals-Barrera played the always funny Theresa Russo, the mortal wife, and mother in a wizard family, where her children, Justin, Alex, and Max, were known for creating magical mayhem and mischief. Years later, Maria Canals-Barrera brought that same joy, comedy, and love to Theresa Russo's reprisal in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place when Theresa and Jerry visit Justin in celebration of his addition to the Wizard Tribunal.
But, it is Theresa's bond with Giada that sticks out as one of the more beautiful connections in the episode's relationship to the original series. Maria Canals-Barrera discussed reprising her iconic role and the beauty of the themes of family and love portrayed in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.
Culturess: It's been over a decade since you last played this character, and then going back to it, she is also a mother-in-law and a grandmother. How did that influence how you approached playing the character?
Maria Canals-Barrera: Well, it was like a day hadn't gone by in being Theresa, especially going onto the set and having watched the run-through of the pilot and then the show itself, it really prepared me to embrace being Theresa again, and then as far as being the grandma and the mother-in-law, that's something new for me. I'm not a grandma yet in real life, so it was practice. It was fun practice, and I love it. I love every second of it. I love what grandmas provide in life and, and trying to be like a cool grandma like Theresa was a cool mom is fun, and I love the scenes that they wrote for me for the show. I love how the bond between, not only myself as Theresa with Justin as an adult, he's a daddy now, it's so sweet, and also with my new daughter-in-law, played by Mimi, Giada, I just love her, and we have some lovely moments together in the new show.
Culturess: How do you think Theresa relates to Giada in terms of magic and wizardry when neither grew up with magic, and they found out about it later on in very different ways?
Maria Canals-Barrera: Oh, I understand her. I connect with her. I feel for her. But, I also know that love conquers all, and because she married somebody that has wizard powers in Justin, and she has to deal with it, I support and help her through it. But, it's really beautiful how they wrote some beautiful things between us where I can meet her where she's at, and she doesn't feel like she has to be perfect because it's a lot to handle as original fans of the show can remember.
Culturess: To this day, Wizards of Waverly Place remains one of the most popular and successful Disney Channel shows. Why do you think its legacy and impact have stayed around this long?
Maria Canals-Barrera: I think it's a combination of several aspects that I am very grateful for. The idea, the concept of the show, the characters, the way they were developed and written. Our writing was just wonderful. We had some amazing writers on the original show. Our creator, Todd Greenwald, of the original show, and the new guys in Scott and Jed and Gary, the vision for the show, the casting, I mean, I just love our original cast from the get-go. David DeLuise is hilarious. Selena is such a good actress. The kids, David, Jennifer, Jake, I mean they were all so good from the very beginning. We just had really, a terrific combination where that perfect alignment of characters and writing, and the audience really clicked with it, and then I feel the same thing for the new show. I think we have such a good cast. These kids are so talented. I think that's why the new audience is so satisfied.
Culturess: What do you think is so exciting and special about Wizards Beyond Waverly Place for fans who do not have that history with the original show?
Maria Canals-Barrera: It's really well-written, and well-developed, and well-thought-out. For fans of the original show, you can feel the nostalgia, the little easter egg moments, the things that you can find. But, because it's a great show on its own, Wizards Beyond because it has such a good vision with the conflict being that somehow there's this prophecy where Billie has got something to do with the end of the world, and it's like, oh my gosh this is such a big theme and what's gonna happen. So, in every episode, you can think, how is this moment going to shape what could possibly happen? So it's really well thought out. It's not just funny, ridiculous moments that evaporate. No, they all mean something. They're stepping stones to a greater vision and that's what good writing does to keep the audience engaged.
And, of course, the personalities of the characters are engaging. There's something for everyone, with Roman being such a Type-A, straight-A student, more of a control person rule-follower, and Milo being so imaginative and sweet and fun and spontaneous, and Winter being so open and smart, and everybody has their thing, and Billie, you have such compassion for her. She was tossed into this mess. But it's not really a mess because it's a loving family that took her in, and so there's something for everyone to really identify with. I think the Russo family motto if you remember, is that the Russo family sticks together and never gives up and figures things out, and we always stick together no matter what. Well, that family motto continues in Wizards Beyond with Justin and Giada, and it's really beautiful to see. On its own, I think that helps the show survive on its own, and not just survive but thrive, even if you've never seen the original, which I doubt because so many people are such big fans of the original, which makes me so happy. It can totally stand on its own, and that's really exciting to see.
Culturess: What themes from Wizards Beyond Waverly Place do you want audiences to take away from the show?
Maria Canals-Barrera: The commitment to family loving each other no matter what mistakes we make. That unconditional love which is saying you, I love, this over here, this choice, this mistake, I don't, but you I love. Separating the action, the choice, from the child, the person. That kind of distinction, you'd be surprised, is lost on a lot of parents, people, and that kind of love is very important, and I think that Wizards has underscored that kind of family commitment and bond, even with family that's not blood family, like Billie is now part of the Russo family and it's very apparent always you, I love, we're gonna deal with this mistake you made over here, this irresponsible magic moment, but you, I love. I think that's something that continues and is a very important message for kids to see and actually for anybody to see.
Culturess: Wizards of Waverly Place had this perfectly chaotic and unique Russo family dynamic. Do you think Wizards Beyond Waverly Place offers a similar relationship for this next generation of characters?
Maria Canals-Barrera: I do, based on what I previously said. That unshakable commitment to loving each other as a family through thick and thin is beautiful, is awesome, and you get to see it too with Giada as the new mortal mom and my relationship with her. You see that it doesn't take having magic to love unconditionally like that. We choose it. I love that layer as well. So yeah, that just continues that unshakable family bond in the new show.
Culturess: When it came to reprising your role, did you get any say in Theresa's dialogue or anything that she was wearing?
Maria Canals-Barrera: Well, when you work with a great group of people on a show that's based on another show, they usually are pretty open, and I added one thing which you'll see, which they embraced, and that was really great. With clothes, we usually do get a say like, 'Oh, I don't feel comfortable in this,' you can say that or 'I really feel like this is more my character,' which is really nice when an actor gets to express something you negotiate and work with. Usually, I love everything they put me in because we have great costume designers on the last show and the current show. So, I loved my clothes, side note. But, yeah, when you work with a good team, you get a bit of a say, which is nice. But, you also have to respect the creators, and as an actor, we work with what we're given. It's part of the job description to make it work, not necessarily question everything. So, you need to be really sure if something doesn't jive and if you want to say something, and really, I've never had to say too much because we've had such talented writers, and there's just one thing I added like I said that I love that they embraced, and you'll see it in my guest-star appearance.
Culturess: At what point in the development of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place did you get the call to go over and guest-star?
Maria Canals-Barrera: Well, David Henrie, who I adore, mentioned in several interviews that he would love to bring back at some point, somehow, as they envisioned the new show, he would like to bring back the original cast in some capacity. So, that was thrilling to hear because I love doing it. He invited us to see the run-through of the pilot, which was terrific, and to meet the writers, and that was really great. It was very well publicized. I'm sure you saw it out there. So, early on, he gave us a heads-up, and that was very exciting. So, when I got the call as to 'okay, this is the date, this is the episode, here's the script,' I was like, 'Oh, I can't wait, I can't wait.' I was so looking forward to it, and hopefully, you'll see a lot more of me as the grandma because I had such a great time.
Culturess: If you were to come back again, is there anything that you would either like to expand on or do that you didn't get an opportunity to do this time?
Maria Canals-Barrera: I got to do a little bit of that hands-on grandmothering, and I'd love to see even more. Theresa, being one of the few Latin American characters on TV, had wonderful moments too where she got to express some of her traditions; when I tried to teach Alex a little Spanish, it was so well written because she's an American. So it wasn't focused on too much because she's not a foreigner; she's an American person of Latin heritage, so it's part of her. I love how the original represented that in a very realistic way, an American family. So I'd love to see a little bit more of my grandmothering, showing my grandkids not only traditions of the Russo family but also maybe a little bit of Theresa's Mexican culture. That would be fun to pepper it in there. It's so cute because the kids already call me Abuelita, which means grandma in Spanish, which is terrific. I'm sure so many kids are going to love that. So, I'd love to see more of those traditions that grandmas want to do with their grandkids that maybe parents like or don't like and want to have a say in, and I think that's a fun dynamic that a lot of people deal with in real life and it's fun to see it represented on TV.
Culturess: What was your favorite part of getting to bring Theresa Russo back?
Maria Canals-Barrera: The zaniness. The shift in gears. We're dealing with a normal situation, and then all of a sudden, chaotic magic happens, and we have to deal with it, and we just turn on a dime and have to face it and accept that this insanity is happening, and we deal with it with love for each other. I just love those brilliant comedic moments where we have to turn on a dime, all based in love and family. It's really the writing, and it's just a total blast. It's a blast to play those moments.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place and Wizards of Waverly Place are available to stream on Disney+.