The actress opens up about confidence glow-ups, the boots she stole from set, and her extremely specific dream role.
If you’ve spent the last few seasons of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place watching Billie go from guarded to unstoppable, that arc wasn’t just written on a page — actress Janice LeAnn Brown lived a version of it in real time. We caught up with her after the show , and she got real about what the role did to her, what she’s smuggling home, and why one very specific superhero is now her manifestation project.
The Confidence Glow-Up Was Real
We asked Brown what the show taught her about herself and she doesn’t shy away from answering honestly. That’s part of what we love about her. “100% my confidence. 100%,” she says. “I was very shy, I was very insecure, and now I just… I learned a lot from my character. I feel like she’s a YOLO type of gal.”
The lesson she’s taking with her, in her own words: “There’s a saying, nothing’s ever that deep. I think it’s important to feel things in that moment, but also remember it’s not the end of the world.” She’ll admit she hasn’t fully mastered that mindset yet – “I wouldn’t say I mastered that, but I’m learning it” – but the difference between season one Janice and finale Janice is, in her words, night and day. She’s “hopeful and optimistic” now in a way she wasn’t when she started.
Billie’s Redemption Arc, Teased (Not Spoiled)
We know better than to ask for actual spoilers, but we did ask what might surprise people most about Billie this season. Brown’s answer: growth, growth, and more growth. “In the beginning it was really hard for her to trust, and I’m really proud of how far she’s come,” she says. “You’re gonna be happy for her. I was happy for her — I was like, thank gosh, give this girl a break.” The verdict on how it all wraps up? “She’s got closure now… I’m happy the way she picked it off.” No further comment, but also, no notes.
What She Stole From Set (A Full Inventory)
Every departing cast member has their heist story, and Brown’s is genuinely iconic. Beyond the prop wand she’s keeping forever, the list includes: five pairs of boots, the shorts she wore under her skirts “for whatever reason,” her actual skirts, her PJs, a teddy bear, and — the crown jewel — a crystal she took from her room “without telling them.” Her exact words: “I hope they don’t get mad at me for that. It’s fine, it’s fine. What are you gonna do about it?” Honestly? Iconic behavior. We’d have done the same.
The Part of Billie She’s Keeping Forever
Beyond the loot, Brown says what she’ll actually carry with her is Billie’s energy. “Her charm. I think she’s very charismatic,” she says. “Her little snarky, cool comments I will take with me. She always made me laugh.” And then she gets a little more philosophical about it: “Obviously I don’t have supernatural magic, but I have the type of magic that makes me authentically myself. The way that she held her magic close to her, I’ll hold my personal magic close to me as well.” It’s a full-circle moment, because back in season one, Brown said the thing she was most excited about was “learning about myself.”
The One Spell She’ll Never Forget
Every “Wizards” girlie has a favorite incantation, and Brown’s is deeply sentimental. “It’s a telekinesis spell — Tom Noonan Kinesis,” she says. “It always makes me laugh, because every time I’d say it, I just hear David in the background yelling it, because he was the one that said it in the original show.” She believes it was originally cast during a baseball episode, and getting to say the same line herself felt like a passing-of-the-torch moment: “It’s definitely meant a lot, for sure.”
Next Up: Music, Manifesting, and A Superhero Dream
So what’s Brown doing post-Waverly Place? “Right now I’m just really focusing on building my craft,” she says, before revealing she’s been working on music she’s “really excited for.” But the real headline is her dream role, which she announced like she was calling her shot: “I would love, LOVE to be a Power Ranger. I’m gonna manifest it right now.” She grew up “obsessed,” dressed as the Pink Ranger for two Halloweens straight, and would take literally any color, though yellow is the dream.
On the book front, she’s got Girl in Pieces sitting unread on her shelf because she’s heard it’s a gut-punch: “I’m kind of scurred… it’s staring at me.” Her dream book-to-screen project is Last Kids on Earth — she actually auditioned for the upcoming live-action adaptation.
“Just the fact I got the audition was dope as heck to me,” she says. “I got high hopes, for sure.”
The Real Goodbye
Ask what she’ll miss most, and the answer isn’t the wand or the wardrobe — it’s the people. “I’m definitely just gonna miss going on set and it feeling like I wasn’t even working. I just felt like I was going to a second home,” she says. “We all had a very special bond, not even just with the cast, but the crew too. It just felt like a family.” She calls it “one of my favorite projects I think I’ll ever” work on — and honestly, hearing her talk about it, you believe her.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place may be closing its chapter, but Janice LeAnn Brown is leaving with way more magic than she came in with — crystal included.
