Selena Gomez Says 'Wizards of Waverly Place' Gave Me 'Everything I Have Today'

Selena Gomez is happy to return to her roots!

Speech at the premiere of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place On Monday, October 28, the 32-year-old actress and singer opened up about reprising her role as Alex Russo in the Disney series — a spinoff of the popular series The Wizards of Waverly Place – and how grateful she is for the start it gave her.

“It's the best feeling in the world to be able to bring this back for you and all the people who have never seen it before,” Gomez says, adding of her little sister Gracie, 11, who was at the screening. added: “My sister included. I made her watch the movie. I don’t think she’s that into it, but I was so genuinely happy to just be able to bring the nostalgia back.”

“It gave me everything I have today, and I'll never forget that I started here,” Gomez adds of the show, which aired from 2007 to 2012.

As for how she thinks her character has evolved since the original series, Gomez tells PEOPLE, “I personally think we picked up where we left off and it shows a very established Justin and also a very established Alex, and you're still curious about what they're going through, but it kind of felt like a rhythm that we got back into.

“Easy,” notes Gomez's co-star David Henrie, who plays Gomez's big brother Justin Russo. “My character is a father now. I have kids and I'm involved in real life, so it was a very organic maturation process on the show.”

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“We want this show to be a love letter to you, a warm hug, but also an invitation to pass the magic wand to a whole new generation,” Henrie, 35, added during an introduction at the screening.

The new nine-episode series follows Justin, who has decided to “live a normal, mortal life with his family” when Alex suddenly shows up at his door. Alex brings her young sorceress Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) with her in hopes of getting Justin to come out of retirement and mentor her.

Henrie's character “realizes that he must set aside his magical abilities in order to mentor the wizard-in-training while managing his everyday duties – and securing the future of the wizarding world,” according to the official synopsis.

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Gomez has had a busy career since then The Wizards of Waverly Place ended. Not only did she expand her discography and repertoire as a singer, but she also starred in films The dead don't die, Dolittle and last in Emilia Perez. She has also perfected her role as Mabel in Just murders in the building She launched her cosmetics line Rare Beauty for four seasons and founded the Rare Impact Fund to increase access to mental health resources for young people.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Two-episode premieres Tuesday, October 29 at 8:00 p.m. ET on Disney Channel. The first nine episodes will be available to stream the next day on Disney+ and Disney Channel On Demand.