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Former Disney Channel actor Daniel Samonas has opened up about his first onscreen kiss with Selena Gomez on Wizards of Waverly Place.
Dan played Dean Moriarty — AKA the love interest of Selena’s character Alex Russo — on the hit Disney sitcom for nine episodes. The pair kissed for the first time at the beginning of Season 2, though their relationship was ultimately short-lived.
This week, Daniel — who was 18 when his and Selena’s first onscreen kiss was filmed — sat down on the Wizards of Waverly Pod podcast to reflect on his experience.
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The podcast is run by former Wizards stars Jennifer Stone, who played Alex’s BFF Harper, and David DeLuise, who played Alex’s dad.
Dan began by revealing that he received no guidance from Disney producers ahead of his and Selena’s kiss.
“Nobody coached me on how to do a Disney kiss,” he said, with Jennifer then explaining that a “Disney kiss” was essentially a brief “peck,” with both actors’ lips remaining sealed throughout. “It’s this weird rigor mortis thing,” she quipped.
Dan noted that no one told him about this before his and Selena’s scene. “I was 18 at the time, so imagine what I’m up to in my personal life,” he said.
“I was also smoking cigarettes at the time ‘cause that was cool in my head,” he went on. “I was smoking on set, trying to sneak it, so they came up to me and made sure I had multiple breath mints before we even approached the scene. But nobody talked to me about the actual kiss!”
Dan went on to note that Selena — who was around 16 when Season 2 of Wizards was filmed — was seemingly annoyed that she had to kiss him because she was dating Nick Jonas at the time. “She was dating Nick Jonas at the time, so that was kind of like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna make me kiss another dude,’” he said of her supposed reaction before adding, “I can’t speak for anybody else’s opinions or thoughts.”
Jennifer confirmed that Selena was “head over heels” for Nick at the time.
Dan then recalled briefly speaking to both Selena and Nick before the scene, before heading straight into the kiss.
“We go to do the kiss. No rehearsals because we’re doing one and done; we’re moving on. We’re not gonna make Selena do multiple kisses with another dude, right?” he said.
He continued, “They’re like, ‘One, two, three, kiss!’ And I go, ‘OK.’ So, I kissed her like I would kiss somebody I was on a date with — sorry Selena.”
Dan said the producers quickly yelled, “Cut!” before pulling him to one side and telling him off. “I got pulled aside. I think she was somewhat appalled, maybe because I did it wrong. And they gave me a talking to, like, ‘OK, this is not how we do this on the show,’” he recalled.
Dan said he asked how he was supposed to kiss Selena, and only then did the staff tell him about the “Disney kiss” rule.
While Dan noted that he never directly heard from Selena or Nick about the awkward moment, he admitted that he felt bad about it afterwards. “I heard Selena was upset about it; I was told strictly by producers how to do it better,” he said, adding that he felt like he “fucked up.”
Podcast cohost David made sure to let Dan know that he “didn’t do anything wrong” and that he should’ve been given guidance from the producers at Disney.
“Daniel, you didn’t do anything wrong. You did what an actor does, which is, ‘I’m gonna make this as real as possible.’ You should have been told, ‘This is how we do this on the show.’ 100%, you should have been given that information,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jennifer added, “There was a lot of stuff that Disney just thought you knew… There was a lot of stuff that was unsaid that you were supposed to just know.”
Reacting to the podcast clip online, several social media users praised David for reminding Dan that it was the producers’ responsibility to ensure things went smoothly.
“David is so sweet for trying to make Daniel feel better,” one TikTok user wrote. Someone else replied, “Agreed, he highlighted the responsibility was the directors and ADULTS, not his.”
“This episode really goes to show just how important intimacy coordinators are on sets. Obviously they weren't a thing back when this show was being made, but it's a really important role even in shows/movies that don't involve [sex] scenes,” one listener noted, while others went on to question why the producers didn’t tell Dan about “Disney kisses” beforehand.
“Why did they not tell him!! Thats crazy that they said it after he did it,” someone commented. “yeah why didn’t they tell him? i hope things are different now,” another user added.