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As the Wizards Of Waverly Place cast celebrates their whopping 15th anniversary this year, Jennifer Stone took a moment to gush over her former co-star Selena Gomez, ahead of her new Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind + Me. “It looks really, really beautiful,” Jennifer told HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview. “I just really respect her candor, and her honesty and her vulnerability.” Recall the two Texas natives starred side by side as besties in Disney’s Wizard of Waverly Place, and have remained friends since.
“I think this documentary is something we all need right now. I think we all need just people to be honest about their experiences,” she continued. “Especially in this social media world we live in, I think we’re all a little burned out from the ‘picture perfect,’ ‘everything’s great’ aspect of it all. I just applaud the position that she’s in, being comfortable with that level of vulnerability. I think it’s something I really respect about her.”
As for getting the old Wizards gang back together, which also includes David Henrie and Jake T. Austin, Jennifer said they’d all “love” to do a “full-fledge reunion,” but “wrangling all of us is extremely difficult,” she admitted. “Also, it’s having the right story to tell… Like how much of a bummer would it be if we came back and it was like ‘womp womp,’” she explained. “At this point, the pressure is on. We have to make sure it’s something that is worthy of the fans and their loyalty and the time that they’ve spent apart from us. When we come back, it has to be something worthy of that, not rushed and slapped together.”
Following her stint on Disney, Jennifer was inspired following her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis to become a Registered Nurse, and recently partnered with Medtronic Diabetes to help others take the guesswork out of their diabetes management. “When I was 20, I started having diabetes symptoms, but it wasn’t your cookie cutter, classic diabetic, because I was older, and I had some type two diabetes symptoms. So, it took about four years to be diagnosed appropriately. I saw all kinds of health care providers, The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly,” she told HL. “For me, when I was finally on the right track with my diabetes, it made sense to become a nurse, because I was already interested in health sciences and I knew that I wanted to keep acting. Nursing is something that I can do, where I can continue to act, and I can learn more about my body and make sure that I can be a positive aspect of somebody’s healthcare experience.”
Jennifer explained that, especially in the beginning of her diagnosis, learning to manage and track her blood sugar was difficult, which is why products like Medtronic Diabetes are a great help for everyone. “It’s a good step by step piece of technology that walks you through as you learn what you can and can’t really do,” she said. “It was a no brainer for me, and a great educational opportunity for people to find out what’s out there.”
