Why Selena Gomez Compares Only Murders to Her Disney Show

Wanna know what’s happened to Wizards of Waverly Place‘s Alex Russo? You may not need to look any further than Only Murders in the Building character, Mabel.

“I feel like Mabel is an older version of Alex in a way,” Selena Gomez told Entertainment Weekly‘s The Awardist podcast of her two beloved characters. “I adored being on that show so much.”

After all, their basically one in the same: Both live in NYC, have an enviable wardrobe and are incredibly witty.

In fact, the Disney Channel show, also starring David Henrie and Jake T. Austin, is to credit for a lot of Selena’s acting abilities. From 2007 to 2012, she worked with some “incredible” writers and directors in the industry while playing Alex, noting that former Friends writers, Gigi McCreery and Perry Rein, worked on the show.

“We got really lucky,” Selena said. “I still look back at that and laugh at certain things just because I thought it was so fun, and we tried.”