Danielle Fishel chats with THR at the 'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place' premiere and dishes on directing a few episodes of the new show. Plus, she praises former 'Girl Meets World' co-star Sabrina Carpenter skyrocketing to fame and the importance of making it a safe environment for young actors on set.
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00:00You directed an episode of this show. What was it like?
00:03Oh, I didn't, what was it like stepping on set and directing these?
00:06Absolutely amazing. It's been so much fun.
00:10It's always so great to step onto a set when you have the kind of leaders that
00:14Selena and David Henry and Mimi are as the adult cast,
00:18really setting the tone for what it's going to be like to work on the show.
00:22They're all so inspiring, so motivational, so talented, so hardworking,
00:26and also really allow the kids to take care of themselves
00:30and trust their instincts. It's been wonderful.
00:33Girl Meets World really set the tone on how to do a sequel right on the Disney
00:37channel, I feel like. What do you think it was about that show
00:40that really resonated not just with fans of Boy Meets World but brought in, you
00:43know, a whole new audience of young fans? I think it's so important to understand
00:47that the show needs to have room for the kids to be the stars.
00:51Of course David Henry is a megastar, of course Selena Gomez is a megastar,
00:55but these kids also need the opportunity to form their own
00:58characters and to have their own voices and to become personalities of their own.
01:03And if you are constantly reminding the audience of what was before and not
01:07allowing a new thing to grow, sometimes that's not going to work. In
01:10this case, everyone's going to be absolutely impressed with this new
01:14cast. It's really great. Speaking of megastars,
01:17Sabrina Carpenter has just had such an amazing year. What's it been like,
01:20especially just this past year, this like skyrocket trajectory that she's been on?
01:25I know. I mean, it's a dream come true and yet also I never for one second
01:31thought it wouldn't happen. It's just, it's just, yeah, it's happened and here
01:34it is. The moment we, the moment we always knew was coming and
01:38she deserves every bit of it. She's just the kindest, most hard-working,
01:42most thoughtful, funny, amazing, everything you think she is,
01:46she is and more. And so it's been really joyful for me,
01:50for the world, to just get to see a little bit more of the person I've known
01:52for over a decade now. I love that so much and sort of a
01:56serious question. There's been a lot of headlines this past year with things
01:58like Quiet On Set about people having, kids having bad
02:02experiences in Hollywood. Being an adult on a set of shows like Girl Meets World
02:06and now Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, how did you work to ensure that the kids
02:09on these shows have a positive experience? Well, I think parents being
02:12incredibly involved and the parents, thankfully, of all the shows I've been
02:15able to direct for Disney Channel, the parents are all very involved. They're
02:18all very much there. That obviously is a huge help, but also
02:21fostering an environment where there are no secrets, there are no
02:25closed-door meetings, everybody's involved in everything. Like I said,
02:29the leaders of the sets are so much more mindful
02:32and involved that it makes that a lot easier.