Witchy Women
What was it like for Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy to return as high-flying sorceress sisters in Hocus Pocus 2? They tell all.
You believe in magic, right? Because there’s no other way to explain the scene in Providence, R.I., last November as Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy showed up for the first day of production on Hocus Pocus 2, the followup to their 1993 comedy classic about three witches resurrected 300 years after their deaths on Halloween.
“It was like we just had gone out to lunch,” says Midler. “We went right back with our characters in such a silly way.”
The movie magic at work was the seamless reunion of three actresses who first cast their spell over moviegoers nearly 30 years ago. And with HP2 launching Sept. 30 on Disney+, fans can finally see the comedically diabolical Sanderson sisters—Winifred (Midler), Sarah (Parker) and Mary (Najimy)—wreak more hilarious havoc in their haunted hometown of Salem, Mass. “We’re very much keeping in the tone and spirit of the first,” Parker says. “It’s ridiculous and not too scary.”
As for the plot, three new witchy young women (played by Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo and Whitney Peak) are standing in the sisters’ way of domination. “We really want to get rid of them,” Midler says. As in the 1993 original, the Sandersons—joined by a new cursed black cat—let the insults (and broomsticks) fly. There also will be music with all the magical mayhem, and they once again will break into song. Many songs.
This all should be music to the ears of the generations of viewers who consider the fun-for-all-ages romp a spooky staple. “There is definitely a cult following,” Najimy says. “It’s surprising but delightful.”
The Three Stooges . . . in Skirts
The actresses think they know why the movie has become so enduringly popular. Parker, 57, likes the “sophistication” in its mix of humor and supernatural hijinks. Najimy, 65, notes that goofy
Halloween-themed movies are few and far between. And Midler, 76, recalls her epiphany upon rewatching Hocus Pocus some 15 years ago. “I always thought I was the star of the picture,” she says jokingly. “And then I saw what the other two girls were doing. They were so funny! I realized, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s all about the trio! We’re like the Three Stooges in skirts!’ ”
There’s also something about watching witches in action. After all, great witch stories like Hocus Pocus (or TV series such as Charmed or American Horror Story: Coven) are driven by powerful women who refuse to conform to the norm; this often conjures up a mighty super(natural) experience. Najimy can recite witch lore dating back to the 1600s. “Women have always tried to lift themselves up, but I don’t know how the ugly warts on the nose started,” she says. “There’s just confusion about what women really are and why we don’t suffer fools,” Midler says. “Men didn’t used to burn them at the stake for nothing! We’ve come a long way since then.”
The New York City–based actresses have stayed tight over the decades. Midler and Najimy and their respective husbands, performance artist Martin von Haselberg and singer Dan Finnerty, enjoy get-togethers with mutual friend Gloria Steinem; Parker and Midler, Broadway vets who both appeared in The First Wives Club (1996), get together socially and share mutual pals.
Ups and Downs (Literally)
After the project was green-lit, the actresses had to coordinate availability. “That took about 75,000 years,” Najimy jokes. Parker describes her crazed schedule: “I finished [Sex and the City sequel] And Just Like That… at 8 o’clock on Nov. 8, got in a van to Providence and started Hocus Pocus 2 the next day. We finished Jan. 26 at 2 in the morning. I got in the van back to New York and started rehearsals for the play [Plaza Suite, with her husband, actor Matthew Broderick] the next day.”
And while Midler and Najimy easily summoned their respective characters, Parker admits that her prep included finally watching Hocus Pocus for the first time (!) to fully prepare for her reprisal of ditzy Sarah, whose singing voice lures children out of their beds. “I was terrified because I can’t bear watching myself,” she says. “But I had to figure it out again, especially the physical movements. And it was actually fun!”
The production itself was quite the journey. Due to pandemic health protocols, “We would film, put on our masks and then run to our cubbyholes and not see anybody,” Midler says. With no communal snack table, she adds, the actors feasted on canned sardines, Triscuits, grapes and hummus. And when the cameras rolled in ultra-chilly New England, “Sarah was bouncing around in a costume that’s extremely flimsy, and she never complained!” Midler says. “I’m there in long underwear and two layers of nylons.”
Challenges aside, the actresses rave about their “air” time—when they were hoisted aloft to simulate flying. “I think the flying is what we were all looking forward to the most,” says Najimy, whose character gets around via a vacuum cleaner. “We got to do it three times, and I would have done it every day if I could.” Adds Midler, with no pun intended, “We had our ups and downs making this movie, but it was a labor of love.”
Casting a Spell
The Sanderson sisters’ story began back in the late 1600s, during the height of the witch-hunt frenzy; the Hocus Pocus tale starts in 1992. The three stars were at different points in their careers when plans came together for the film. Midler was an icon thanks to her brassy revues, Grammy-winning music career and films like The Rose and Beaches. Najimy was a standout from Sister Act and Soapdish. And Parker was a Broadway vet and sparkling screen star of romantic comedies including L.A. Story and Honeymoon in Vegas.
“I remember I was living out of a suitcase, knitting all the time, and I had just met Matthew,” Parker says. “So I was occupied in ways that were really exciting.” She jumped at the opportunity to do Hocus Pocus, primarily because she’d have a chance to work with one of her idols: “When I was about 13, the stage manager for Annie took me to see Bette! Divine Madness on Broadway. I was a great admirer, and the idea of working with her was enormously appealing.”
Najimy jokes that she was a full-on Midler stalker, even going so far, after one of the Divine Miss M’s L.A. concerts in the 1970s, as to run past security guards and into Midler’s dressing room backstage to meet her. “She was just sitting there, and I said, ‘Oh, my God, I love you!’” Najimy recalls. Cut to decades later when a Disney executive called Najimy and asked if she’d like to play Midler’s sister in Hocus Pocus: “That was my peak moment.”
Once shooting started on the Disney back lot in Burbank, Calif.—only a few exteriors were filmed in New England— the actresses bonded like family. Parker says the trio would eat lunch together in Midler’s trailer every single day, with meals provided by the star’s personal chef, who wanted them to eat mindfully. “The cook wanted us to chew 30 times before swallowing our food,” Parker recalls.
Over the years, the film hit the nostalgic sweet spot for kids and their parents. Parker says her 13-year-old twin daughters, Marion and Tabitha, couldn’t wait to meet Najimy and Midler on the set. Najimy adds that fans still send her “very creative” character artwork.
“It went from doing nothing and getting not-so-nice reviews to being beloved and on television every day and night around Halloween!” Midler says. “In a way, it was very moving for us because we felt justified. We were all very attached to those women and those characters.”
Now it’s time to say goodbye. The actresses have hung up their capes, ready to give their powers to aspiring younger witches. “We’ve told the story, and you don’t want to beat a dead horse,” Najimy says.
They’re going out flying high: “We’re talking about three women in solidarity really having a blast together,” Midler says. “Our movie is fun. The last few years have been so rough, and I think it’s time for a breather. This is definitely your breather.”