The actor is revealing why he believes he wasn't asked back for the 'Wizards of Waverly Place' sequel.
Dan Benson thinks his new career choices negated a possible return to Waverly Place.
Shortly after news broke that Selena Gomez and David Henrie would reprise their Wizards of Waverly Place roles -- Alex and Justin Russo, respectively -- for an upcoming sequel, TMZ spoke to Benson to find out why he won't be returning as Justin's best friend, Zeke, for the project.
"I think it's super exciting that the fans get to kind of relive their childhood again, and the old characters that they used to love watching are coming back. I loved the premise, the new idea that they're doing for the show. The other side of me is very sad, because I know for a fact that I will definitely not be a part of it," Benson said. "That's all on me. I totally get it. I made choices... I put the chance of bringing back the character that I played away when I decided to go along this path of being an adult content creator. I get it."
Given that, Benson, who's now a full-time OnlyFans model, said he's "very conflicted" about the sequel news, explaining, "I'm super happy, and also just like, 'Dang it.' It's a mix of emotions for me right now."
"Do I think that by me doing porn made it so they can't bring my character back? Yes. The short answer is yes," he said. "I think that I put them in a situation where they don't have a choice. They can't reasonably bring back my character without bringing back all of the weight that my personal choices have [caused]... It's crazy to be an adult content creator, and it's crazier to do it so publicly and to be a former child actor from a Disney Channel show. I don't see any way."
Even if Disney Channel did find a way to bring Zeke back, Benson, who previously said that adult entertainment "changed my life for the better," revealed that he would've turned down the opportunity.
"Even if they called me tomorrow and said, 'Dan, we want you. We don't care about what's been going on. We want you to reprise your character,' I would tell them no," he said. "... I thought I was going to have big success, turns out my career died. I spent seven years after Wizards of Waverly Place grinding, fighting for every opportunity, doing really bad projects. And just, my career died. I felt so low at that point thinking that Wizards of Waverly Place was going to be the biggest thing I ever did."
"I look back and I'm proud and I'm excited, but I put all of my self-worth into whether people still recognized me, or can I get another acting job after this? I definitely was at the lowest point of my life," Benson continued. "I went back to just being a normal person. I went back to school. I reshaped my life and took back all those years that I had given to acting. It felt like I had nothing left, and I don't have anything left, and I don't love it anymore, so I don't want to do it anymore. Also, I'm my own boss now. I don't rely on anyone else to give me an opportunity. I make those opportunities for myself now. I've moved on."
As for his hopes for the sequel, Benson said, "I hope that it doesn't suck. I really hope that this new show captures the amazing, just magical -- no pun intended -- years that we had together creating this show... There's so much potential in this, and I'm just so excited."
According to Deadline, Gomez and Henrie are set to executive produce the upcoming show, with the former appearing in the pilot episode and the latter serving as a series regular.
Per the outlet, the show, which will star Janice LeAnn Brown, Alkaio Thiele and Mimi Gianopulos, picks up after a mysterious incident at WizTech, where Justin has left his wizard powers behind, opting for a normal, human life with his wife and two sons. But he gets a surprise when a powerful young wizard in need of training shows up at his door… and Justin must embrace his past to ensure the future of the Wizard World.
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