From our Friends at D23
When Kathryn Hahn was last seen as the witch Agatha Harkness in WandaVision, she was left powerless, trapped in her own mind as Wanda Maximoff stripped away her magic. But in Agatha All Along, from Marvel Television, she returns with a vengeance, ready to reclaim her powers and reveal the depths of her dark, mysterious past.
At a recent press conference for the show, which debuts with two episodes on September 18 on Disney+, the cast and creatives opened up about their experiences bringing this magical series to life. They shared insights into their characters, the intense bond between the actors, and the visceral energy on set.
Hahn described Agatha as a natural performer, full of charisma yet hiding depths of vulnerability. “The villain part is fun and almost the easiest part, because it’s her well-honed performance, and she really thinks that everyone is beneath her,” Hahn explained. Yet, the real challenge was to “allow herself even to crack the door a little to her vulnerability… Anyone could get in there now.” Head writer, director, and executive producer Jac Schaeffer spoke about Agatha’s complexities, noting, “Agatha has many different dimensions and is never about world domination… There’s always something nefarious and complex.”
Working closely with her co-stars, Hahn found herself immersed in a world that felt as real as it was magical. “Once you walked on set, we didn’t really leave for the whole day… It really felt like a coven around a cauldron… It was also so immersive as an actor that you didn’t have to shake off the outside world.”
Schaeffer also reflected on a memorable day of filming: “The day that we did Episode 2, the singing in the basement, a crew member working on sound came up to me afterward and said they’d never experienced anything like it.”
Joe Locke, who plays the mysterious Teen with layers to be unraveled, reflected on the show’s intricacies, especially in the costume design. “If you look closely at all the costumes, you’d find every twist and turn of the show in them, which I think is so clever. I think the costumes hold all the secrets of the show.” For Locke, stepping into this world at just 19 was a dream come true, as he shared, “I had the best time. It was a dream.”
Locke isn’t the only one who found magic in the show’s world. Joining Agatha’s witch coven is Lilia Calderu, played by Patti LuPone. She described Lilia as a “Sicilian witch who started out as a bathhouse singer and ended up being a tarot card reader.” LuPone’s awe for the show’s set design was unmistakable: “I’ve never seen a more beautiful set in my life. It was stunning. Just stunning.”
Aubrey Plaza, who brings to life Rio Vidal, aka the Green Witch, embraced the unpredictable nature of her role and the tumultuous relationship Rio shared with Agatha. “Expect the unexpected—you have no idea what’s going to happen with her, and there are twists and turns and all kinds of shenanigans happening.” Plaza also praised costume designer Daniel Selon’s playful energy during fittings: “Even in the fittings, we would create this environment with music, and we would mess around… He was really fun.”
The dynamics within the coven are further enriched by characters such as witch Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) and sorceress Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata). Ahn shared how Alice has a complex emotional journey, revealing how her character’s growth is gradually unraveled. “She’s hiding that when you meet her, so she’s wearing a disguise to the world. It was interesting to play with how much you reveal and then mapping that out.” Ahn also noted the sense of camaraderie on set, saying, “A lot of our scenes are all of us together all day long with our feet in the literal dirt.”
On Jennifer’s relationship with Agatha, Zamata shared, “Agatha has a long history with a lot of witches, but they have a nice love-hate thing going on, and it makes for a very fun scene partner when we’re actually playing together.” Much like Ahn, Zamata also fondly recalled the bond formed during the intense filming process in Georgia, comparing it to “summer camp.”
That bond extended to the returning faces from WandaVision. Reprising her role from WandaVision, Debra Jo Rupp returns as Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis. “I hope that when fans watch the show, they feel what we felt when we made it. It was a very special experience for all of us. I hope that comes through and that’s what they take away,” she said.
Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television, and animation, highlighted the tactile realism of the show. “There wasn’t a single green screen in sight on that set… Everything you see on camera was actually there, photographed on the day. And I think you could really feel it in the performances. It feels very tactile and very real and very grounded.”
That authenticity doesn’t stop at the visuals—it’s also woven into the fabric of the show’s storytelling. Executive producer Mary Livanos explained: “It has music, but it’s not a musical; it has drama, but it’s not a drama; it has comedy, but it’s not exactly a comedy. It’s all those things.” She elaborated on the coven’s diverse nature, noting, “What I find so incredible about witches is that they can be anyone, and they can be anything. I think this coven is so wonderful because they’re all so different.”
Agatha All Along promises to be a spellbinding journey, where every cackle and costume tells a story—where magic is not just a fantasy but a palpable reality. As Hahn herself put it, “Our power is really in who we are. Our ‘witchiness’… is our special superpower.”
