In October 2007, and after enjoying great success with productions such as Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Disney Channel premiered Wizards of Waverly Place, a fantasy sitcom that aired for four seasons. This show, created by Todd J. Greenwald, centers on the lives of Alex, Justin, and Max Russo, three wizard siblings who live with their parents in New York City. They live a double life: they train to battle for custody over the family powers, while keeping their identity hidden from the rest of the world, who are not supposed to know that magic exists. However, all three are prone to accidents and mischief, so they get themselves into trouble on several occasions.
Wizards of Waverly Place stars Selena Gomez alongside David Henrie, Jake T. Austin, David DeLuise, Maria Canals-Barrera, and Jennifer Stone. Throughout its seasons, the show was highly acclaimed for the cast's performances, the humor, and creativity displayed in each episode, and the way it tackled important issues for teenagers such as relationships with family and friends or self acceptance.
While the show was airing, Disney Channel also premiered Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, a made-for-TV production recounting more adventures of this magical family. In 2013, a year after the end of the series, the cast returned to reprise their roles for the TV special The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex. Wizards of Waverly Place boosted the show's main actors' careers, especially Gomez's, as after she played Alex she managed to establish herself as a hit singer and also followed a path in the film and television industry, performing increasingly challenging roles.
Throughout each season, Wizards of Waverly Place featured different figures from the entertainment world who portrayed different characters, from actors to models, singers and even magicians. Here are 15 stars who made cameos in the show.
15 Daryl Sabara
In 2001, Daryl Sabara rose to fame portraying Juni Cortez in the movie Spy Kids, a role he reprised several times throughout different productions. In 2007, some years after his involvement in this film series, Sabara landed a small role in Wizards of Waverly Place as T. J. Taylor, a character with a number of appearances in the show's first two seasons. T. J. is a young wizard who attends the same school as Alex and her brothers, but uses his abilities carelessly and, many times, to harm other people. His final part in the show was in the second season's episode "Art Teacher."
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14 Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison is a very familiar face in the industry, as she has been involved in a large number of movies and TV series since she was a little girl. Among these productions is this Disney Channel show, in which she starred for six episodes of the fourth season as Maxine, Max Russo's alter-ego after his older siblings cast a spell and turned him into a girl. Maxine proves to be smarter and far skilled than Max, gifted in singing and karate.
13 Lucy Hale
Just a few years before she became world-famous for playing Aria Montgomery in the teen drama Pretty Little Liars, Lucy Hale landed a small part in the first season of Wizards of Waverly Place. For two episodes, she plays Miranda Hampson, Justin Russo's goth girlfriend. She is a Tribeca Prep student one year older than the wizard, and quickly emerges as Harper's nemesis, as Alex's friend is completely in love with Justin. Miranda and Justin share their first kiss, though their relationship is only explored in the episodes "First Kiss" and "Pop Me and We Both Go Down."
12 Kate Flannery
To this day, Kate Flannery is known worldwide for her role as Meredith Palmer in the popular series The Office, an extremely bizarre character with highly inappropriate behaviors towards her boss and co-workers. While playing this part in the comedy masterpiece, the actress also made a cameo in Selena Gomez's show. In the episode, "Wizards vs. Finkles," from the third season of the series, Kate plays Elaine Finkle, Harper's mother who, together with her father, comes to town to audition for a gig at a train vaudeville act in Romania. Harper is utterly embarrassed by the situation, but Alex falls head over heels for her friend's amusing parents. The role of Harper's father in this episode is played by Scot Robinson.
11 Wendi McLendon-Covey
Wendy McLendon-Covey is an actress and comedian who excels when it comes to improv roles. She rose to fame in 2011 with her part in Paul Feig's acclaimed comedy Bridesmaids, and from 2013 to 2023 she thrived playing Beverly Goldberg in the show The Goldbergs, co-starring alongside Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, Hayley Orrantia, George Segal, and Jeff Garlin. A few years before joining these two projects, the actress made a small cameo in the third season of this Disney Channel show playing the character of Dr. Ice.
10 Debby Ryan
Actress Debby Ryan became well-known thanks to the Disney Channel show The Suite Life on Deck, where she portrayed a smart teenager from Kansas named Bailey Pickett that quickly awakens feelings in both Zack and Cody. However, this show was not the only one in which Ryan starred as her popular character, as in 2009 Disney released a trilogy of crossover episodes featuring The Suite Life on Deck, Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place titled Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana.
The first episode of this trilogy was released on the second season of Gomez's show, and in it, the Russo brothers attend a teen cruise on the S.S. Tipton. Once there, Alex meets Bailey, and ends up saving her life after she chokes on some pizza.
9 Wilmer Valderrama
In 1998, Wilmer Valderrama became hugely popular for his role as Fez in the teen sitcom That '70s Show, which he reprised this same year in the sequel series That '90s Show. During the third season of Wizards of Waverly Place, the actor plays Uncle Ernesto, Alex, Justin, and Max's maternal uncle, for just one episode. As the brother of Theresa Russo, who is not a wizard, Ernesto has no idea that magic exists, and he is unaware of their secrets.
8 Christopher Douglas Reed
Sons of Anarchy actor Christopher Douglas Reed made a small cameo on the Disney Channel television series during a four-part special titled Wizards of Apartment 12B. In it, the Russo siblings have to use their magical powers to fight the Dark Side and defeat Gorog, leader of the Angels of Darkness. Reed, meanwhile, plays Ogre Malone, a young ogre who lives in Apartment 13B and develops romantic feelings for Alex.
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7 Austin Butler
The actor who rose to fame portraying Elvis Presley in the 2022 film Elvis is a well-known face in teen series: he has made cameos in Hannah Montana, iCarly and Jonas, among many others. In the episode "Positive Alex" from Wizards of Waverly Place's third season, Austin Butler plays George, a Tribeca Prep student who sweeps Alex off her feet. As he dislikes her for being so negative, Alex casts a spell to become a positive person, which works for a while until George stops liking her for being overly optimistic.
6 Rachel Dratch
Rachel Dratch is a comedy star who rose to fame through her appearances on Saturday Night Live, and over the course of her career she has starred in a number of film and TV productions, such as Click, 30 Rock and Wine Country. In the second season of this Disney Channel teen series, she plays a future version of Harper Finkle, who devotes herself to chronicling the magical adventures of Alex and her siblings under the pen name H.J. Darling. Initially, Alex gets mad at Future Harper for stealing her adventures to share with the world, although they end up patching things up by the end of the episode.
5 Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford is one of the world's best-known models, and her popularity has enabled her to pursue a number of different projects over the years, from beauty product lines to furniture and even acting. Her involvement in Wizards of Waverly Place is closely linked to her career as a model: in the episode "Fashion Week" of the show's second season, Crawford plays Bibi Rockford, a parody version of herself. In the episode, Alex uses a magic copy machine to bring a magazine picture of Bibi to life for her to model at a major fashion show, though the model's only interest seems to be playing Dungeons & Gargoyles with Justin and his best friend Zeke.
4 David Copperfield
Since this Disney Channel show is all about wizards and magic, perhaps the most important cameo appearance was the one made by world-renowned illusionist David Copperfield in "Harperella", the 26th episode of the show's fourth season. In it, the main characters are caught up in a mess after reading an incomplete wizard storybook that transported them into the story with its magic, mixing elements from Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs. Copperfield makes a small cameo as himself, and in fact, he even pulls off some magic tricks that really impress the audience.
3 Shakira
Just like Copperfield, the talented Colombian singer also takes part in Wizards of Waverly Place as herself. However, her story in the show is quite unique. In the third season episode "Dude Looks Like Shakira," the Russo siblings are astonished to find out that international star Shakira is just an alter ego of their uncle Kelbo, who has been abusing his body morphing skills to secretly perform as the singer. However, since doing so is against the rules of magic, Kelbo can no longer control his transformations, which makes for some pretty hilarious moments.
2 Dwayne Johnson
Actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson is known for his roles in franchises like Fast & Furious and Jumanji, and although he has also been involved in TV projects over the years, he mostly stars as himself rather than playing a character. That was the case in Wizards of Waverly Place, where he was featured in "Art Teacher," the 15th episode of the second season. In it, The Rock visits Max Russo after he hears that the boy suffers from a disease called "mono-orangosis", unaware that such disease is not real. This episode also features a cameo by volleyball player Misty May-Treanor.
1 Octavia Spencer
Rounding out the list is Octavia Spencer, a highly acclaimed actress who has earned, among many other accolades, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award throughout her career. Her portfolio comprises projects across all genres, both in film and television. Among them is her role in this Disney Channel show, in which she starred in a double episode titled "Wizard School."
There, Spencer plays Dr. Evilini, an evil wizard who works as a teacher at WizTech and plans to steal her students' powers in order to become steadily stronger. Once Alex exposes her evil plans, Dr. Evilini is thrown in jail and fired from WizTech.
