When Kimberly J. Brown was filming “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge” in 2001, she didn’t expect to fall in love with co-star Daniel Kountz more than a decade later.
The Disney Channel actress, who portrayed the character of Marnie Piper, got candid with Page Six about her romance with her now-husband, who played the film’s villain, Kal.
“We worked together on the movie and had a great time and we were friends but there was nothing romantic happening then,” Brown, who was 16 years old when the film came out.
“And then we didn’t see each other, I guess, for a good 12 years or so at least,” Brown, 39, recalls.
The Disney alum explains she reconnected with Kountz, 45, in 2016 to ask if he wanted to work on “Halloweentown”-themed sketches for her YouTube channel.
“I thought some of the fans would get a kick out of seeing him in some of the stuff,” she shares. “I was very grateful that he agreed.”
Brown, who often blogged on the social media platform, shared her first video with Kountz the same year they rekindled their friendship.
The comedic video showed the actor explaining where his Disney character Kal ended up years later in an episode titled, “Realm Are They Now?”
“We started doing some sketches with some friends and it just started turning romantic,” Brown gushes, explaining it wasn’t long until they realized their feelings were mutual.
“So it just kind of took off from there,” the “Halloweentown” star says. “And what an amazing kind of full circle moment … and the irony that our characters are such mortal enemies.”
“Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge,” which was the second installment in the movie series, saw Brown’s character, who comes from a family of witches, defeat Kountz’s character, a diabolical warlock, who attempts to turn humans in the mortal world into monsters and the citizens of Halloweentown into normal people.
The couple confirmed they were dating in 2018 with a sweet social media post that showed the real estate broker hugging Brown from behind as they shared a kiss under a lamp post.
Four years later the “Halloweentown High” actress and Kountz got engaged, and tied the knot at the Spanish Hills Club in Camarillo, Calif., in April 2024.
“We’re just having the best time,” Brown tells Page Six about married life. “We’re so happy. Just so grateful.”
The “Quints” star shared that she and Kountz traveled to Casa de Camp, a resort in the Dominican Republic, for their honeymoon.
“We took a little bit of time [before leaving], so we could spend some time with the family that had come into town and just pace ourselves so we could enjoy every moment,” she says
While Brown and Kountz haven’t rewatched their hit Disney film together, the former child star has enjoyed reminiscing on her time on set with her family and friends.
The actress tells us it’s the “biggest honor” that so many fans rewatch the “Halloweentown” series 26 years after the first movie was released in 1998.
“We were just supposed to make one Halloweentown movie for Disney Channel,” she recalls. “I am so honored that people are still sharing in the movies all these years later.
“And it’s due in large part to the incredible fans we have because they have just embraced it and showed it so much love over the years.”
Brown says it was a “blast” growing up on the set and being able to “dip into” her own “child imagination.”
The former Disney Channel star was around 19 years old when the third movie, “Halloweentown High,” came out in 2004, and she didn’t return for the fourth movie, “Return to Halloweentown,” which was released in 2006 and starring Sara Paxton as Marnie Piper.
Brown previously told Page Six she’s uncertain why Disney didn’t invite her back to the set.
As Halloween approaches, Brown admits that she’s had her home decorated with do-it-yourself crafts and pumpkins since early September.
Brown also highlights that she decorates her home with several reminders of the “Halloweentown” set that she has a “personal connection” with.
Some of the many items she took from the set, include the “Halloweentown” book actress Debbie Reynold’s character, Aggie Cromwell, read to her granddaughter Marnie in the first film, and villain Kalabar’s bat, also from the first movie.
Brown also took home Marnie’s purple cloak from the second film, which she’s occasionally worn for trick-or-treating.
While Brown loves a good Halloween decor set-up, she likes to keep the real-life spiders away with Stem bug light traps and spray to repel flies and creepy crawlers, including roaches.
“Whatever we can do to make sure that the celebration stays with the fake creepy crawlers,” she says. “I don’t like the real ones.”
She shares customers can visit stembugout.com, upload a photo of their Halloween decorations and receive a special discount code.
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