Why Kathryn Hahn Was So Ready to Play a Witch in ‘Agatha All Along’

Over the course of a singularly unpredictable three-decade career, Kathryn Hahn has brought her signature touch to a plethora of genres: police procedurals (“Crossing Jordan”), horror (“The Visit”), ensemble comedies (“Step Brothers”), “Bad Moms”) and existential dramas (“Tiny Beautiful Things,” “Mrs. Fletcher”).

But in the Disney+ series “Agatha All Along,” Hahn draws from all disparate areas of her work to play the treacherous, power-hungry witch Agatha Harkness. It’s a role that finds Hahn — most recently known for playing unhinged antiheroines — at the peak of her powers.

“When the show ended, I was getting to hair and makeup at the end of the day and I was like, ‘Well, this is my last acting job,’ because I had the feeling like I have a chance to do everything. But it only reopened my hunger and love for performing,” Hahn said in a recent interview. “I feel like that’s exactly the role I’m supposed to play at this time in my life.”

Although she had watched live-action Marvel films with her two children and voiced Doc Ock in “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse,” Hahn never expected to join the MCU full-time. But in 2019, shortly after a town hall meeting with Marvel executives, Hahn was offered the high-profile limited series “WandaVision,” the predecessor to “Agatha All Along.” In “WandaVision,” she would play Agatha, the nosy neighbor of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). Agatha, it is eventually revealed, has a secret identity.

“WandaVision” creator Jac Schaeffer’s desire to pay homage to classic sitcoms in a meditation on heartbreak intrigued Hahn, who recognized parts of his scrappy, naturally performative younger self in Agatha. And who wouldn’t want to play a centuries-old, shape-shifting witch?

Learn more:How Kathryn Hahn Turned ‘WandaVision’s Nosy Neighbor Into a Raging Villain

Much like his character, Hahn gained his power over time. In her 20s and early 30s, Hahn remembers being told that the roles offered to her would gradually diminish — if not by the time she became a mother, then by the time she reached her 50s. This attitude toward female performers has begun to change in recent years, with Hahn joining a growing number of women who are now producing and starring in their own projects.

“I feel like the work I’ve been able to do after having kids and turning 40 has been the most rewarding since I was doing theater back then. I feel the most relaxed and excited, I’m not really afraid of doing something wrong, but I’m really confident in the choices I make,” says Hahn, who believes women’s lives are enriched with age. “I think audiences want to see juicy, complicated, not-young women all the time – no offense to the incredible young women in our industry.”

In summer 2021, a few months after “WandaVision” premiered, Hahn learned that Schaeffer was developing a sequel to Agatha’s story. In their early conversations, Hahn and Schaeffer knew they wanted to maintain the character’s “acerbic, sarcastic, self-involved” attitude while placing her in a position where she must reluctantly form a coven to travel the legendary “Witch’s Road.” and reclaim the power that Wanda took from him at the end of “WandaVision.”

In the process, “Agatha” serves as something of an origin story for the Wicked Witch. The series reveals that Agatha’s nihilistic malevolence stems from her tortured relationship with her mother, who told her she was inherently and irredeemably evil and attempted to kill her along with her own clan. She also feels immense shame and guilt for not being able to save her son, Nicky, whose life she had tried to prolong by killing other witches. A master at communicating inner turmoil with a single charged gaze, Hahn is able to offer captivating, if fleeting, windows into Agatha’s vulnerability.

Learn more:What the success of Agatha All Along means for the future of Marvel Television

Recently persuaded by her teenage daughter, Mae, to join social media, Hahn refrains from reading the comments. So, apart from the messages that are sent to her or that she finds on her timeline, she “fortunately” ignores the reaction of fans. “But I know how proud we are of it and how subversive and radical it was to have an ending, especially a big Marvel series, to be so small and tender and have this little beating heart “, she said.

Speaking on the phone again a few days after the “Agatha” finale — which ends with Agatha sacrificing her life and agreeing to act as a sort of spirit guide for Wanda’s son, Billy aka Wiccan (Joe Locke), as he searches for his missing twin. brother – Hahn insists she hasn’t had any conversations about her future in the MCU yet.

“Even though obviously Billy/Wiccan is no longer her son, there is some sort of hope for her that maybe she can do for him what she couldn’t do for Nicky. I think they make a great team. Of course, I love this part and I love Joe Locke madly, and we’ll see what the future brings,” says Hahn. “In my mind, it was a beautiful and satisfying way to say goodbye to this incredible character that I got to play.”

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This story was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.