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Maria Canals Barrera, who in real life is the mother of a 4-year-old and 2-year-old, gets to show off her maternal instincts in the new Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place." Her television children -- Justin (David Henrie), Alex (Selena Gomez) and Max (Jake T. Austin) -- require some special parenting skills. They are budding magicians.

The magical element of the series calls for all kinds of special effects. But Canals Barrera likes her role as the TV mom because of the more personal elements.

"The is a show that is all about family. We have all of these other interesting components like magic. But the heart of this show is about the responsibility of raising kids," Canals Barrera says.

And the household is unique in another way, especially for a television comedy. This is an ethnically diverse family. Dad is Italian, and Mom is Hispanic. Canals Barrera, a Miami native of Cuban heritage, likes that the show has the ethnic element but that it is never played as a big deal.

Canals Barrera also enjoys being part of this show because she is such a new mom herself.

"I can look into the eyes of the kids on the show and see my kids grown up," Canals Barrera says.

She's got a while before her own children reach their teenage years. And there are no signs she will have to call in a magic teacher. But "Wizards of Waverly Place" opened to such high ratings that Canals Barrera may still be playing the role when her own children become teens.

The opener of "Wizards of Waverly Place" launched as Friday's top-rated television series telecast on cable for that night, with 5.9 million viewers.

Canals Barrera is ready for a long run because the show is so well written and the actors are such a joy. This observation is based on a long résumé of work. Before she landed the current series, Canals Barrera appeared on such programs as "George Lopez," "The Loop," "Veronica's Closet," "Popular" and "Caroline in the City." She also worked on the Telemundo series "Merielena" and Univision's "Coret Tropical."

Animation fans might recognize her as the voice of Hawkgirl on "The Justice League."

"I am superhero," Canals Barrera says. "Working on that show was a sheer blast. The great thing about doing voice work is that you can walk into the recording studio dressed however you want. I did the show during both of my pregnancies."

Being a real mom and the mother to three budding magicians on TV is not the only place where Canals Barrera is being maternal. She recently finished work on the Disney Channel movie "Camp Rock," a singing and dancing effort similar to "High School Musical."

Canals Barrera plays the mom of the movie's lead actress, Demi Lovato.

"Demi and Selena are best friends. So they keep saying about me 'She's my mom' and 'No, she's my TV mom,' " Barrera says.