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.”