Janice LeAnn Brown and Kenzi Richardson's Sweet Friendship Leads Wizards Beyond Waverly Place and Vampirina: Teenage Vampire Crossover!
Not only will Billie and Vee meet up in a magical Vampirina: Teenage Vampire and Wizards Beyond Waverly Place crossover episode, but Pop Culture Planet is bringing you a special crossover interview with the good friends. Janice Leann Brown and Kenzi Richardson open up about the upcoming episode, original music, and their sweet bond.
The friends are “so grateful” to be on Disney shows at the same time. “I love the Disney Channel family that we have right now,” said Brown. “It just feels so surreal, especially since we both were Disney fans growing up and everything. Especially her, for sure.”
“Guys, I'm a Disney nerd. Ultimate super fan here,” gushed Richardson, calling out favorites like Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Descendants, Zombies, Teen Beach Movie, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and The Suite Life on Deck.
Season 2 of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place ups the stakes for Billie and the Russos, especially now that she’s not the only wizard in the family. “I can definitely say there's going to be a lot of challenges for her ‘cause she's very competitive, as we all know. She wants to win and so there's going to be some moments with her and Roman and even Milo,” said Brown. “It's going to be crazy. There's going to be some very heartfelt moments, but there's also going to be a lot of fun that you guys will see on screen. I'm just really excited for everybody to see.”
Brown even hinted at the shocking finale that changes everything. “We have a really big thing up our sleeve for this finale, so I've been really hyping that up. I'm really excited for everyone to see that. It's going to be crazy. That's the most I can say,” she teased. “It's going to be crazy. We're coming 10 times better than last season. We're coming with more fun. We're coming with more heartfelt moments. We're coming with more plots for you guys.”
Meanwhile, Vee loves music so much in Vampirina: Teenage Vampire that she is willing to risk everything for it, even with a Van Helsing around. “Me and Vee share so many of the same qualities, but especially our love for music,” explained Richardson. “I feel like if I'm ever having a bad day or even like an amazing day, I love songwriting, so I'll usually write a song about it or a little poem. Then I'll always add a melody and I'll just save them in my heart because I feel like music is just such a way when you don't have the words to say something, you can just express it through music and through dance.”
Richardson teased the awesome songs coming up in the show, including some Halloween bops. She is in awe of getting to sing original songs written just for her. “It's absolutely surreal because the songwriters that I know we've had on Vampirina are just so iconic. They've written so many songs that I've loved in the past from different musicals like High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. I know one of our writers Jordan Powers, she wrote Wondering, which is one of my all-time favorite Olivia Rodrigo songs,” said Richardson. “So to know that she wrote one of our songs on Vampirina is mind-blowing because that is always one of my favorite songs. I think the music is just so fun and catchy. Even my dad I heard this morning singing “S-L-A-Y,” our theme song!”
Brown had to give her friend her flowers. “Girl, I kid you not. I was just playing it. I was literally singing it over there. The way you say the lines as well. It like scratches my brain in the best way possible. It’s so funny, I was just saying that. You are so incredibly talented. Like literally the songs are just so amazing. I'm so excited for everyone to see what Vampirina has because they literally have it. It's so good,” she said. The girls hugged as Richardson exclaimed: “I love you so much. Guys, this is the sweetest angel on Earth.”
When it comes to their crossover on the Vampirina: Teenage Vampire episode “First Heartbeat,” the girls said they had a blast! “Literally the most funnest thing you guys will ever see. I'm so excited for everybody to see it. Vee and Billie are not coming with anything short of boring. We're about to bring some fun to the screens. We need some more of Vee and Billie. We're so excited. We're so nervous at the same time, low key,” said Brown, with Richardson adding: “There's some mischief coming up and it's gonna get us into a little bit of trouble.”
They also told me about the surprising trait that Vee and Billie share. “I also noticed one thing that Vee and Billie have in common. We both are so quick to announce our secrets,” revealed Brown. Richardson agreed: “Yeah, we're not good secret keepers. These are not the people that you should trust with a secret. No, literally. I promise I won't say anything. Here's the key to my mouth.”
“Literally. I don't know what it is, but we cannot keep a secret for anything. So that's not going to be good with each other,” laughed Brown.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place season 2 is streaming now on Disney+, and don’t miss Vampirina: Teenage Vampire when it hits the platform on October 15.
Listen to more on Pop Culture Planet Presents: The Tiny Talk Show, below:
Hosted by TV and film critic Kristen Maldonado, Pop Culture Planet presents tiny chats with the stars and creators of your favorite family-friendly movies and shows in The Tiny Talk Show. Each episode features awesome celeb guests, cool stories, and interactive surprises — made just for kids. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you stream your podcasts.
