Kathryn Hahn on Her 'Agatha All Along' Return: ‘I’m Still Pinching Myself’
Agatha Harkness returns with a new Disney+ show, premiering September 18.
Agatha Harkness is many things — an ancient witch, a nosy neighbor, even the star of her own catchy theme song. But if you ask Kathryn Hahn, the actress has her own favorite phrase to describe her character.
“We kept calling her a blooming onion!” says Hahn, who originated the role in 2021’s WandaVision and returns for the upcoming Agatha All Along. “There were so many layers in WandaVision, and [I loved] to be able to see what was under and start to strip those layers of defense that have been built up over centuries. I mean, she looks fabulous, but she’s not young!”
The Marvel Television series Agatha All Along (premiering September 18 on Disney+) peels back those layers even further, following Agatha as she breaks out of Westview and sets out on a dangerous new quest, accompanied by a mysterious goth teenager (played by Heartstopper’s Joe Locke).
It's a journey that Hahn never anticipated: The actress hadn’t heard of Agatha Harkness when she was first cast in WandaVision, and she certainly never expected the “centuries-old witch-slash-nanny” from the comics to someday headline her own Marvel show. But Hahn quickly fell in love with Agatha’s witchiness and wit, and she remembers sitting on the set of WandaVision, telling head writer Jac Schaeffer that Agatha is the kind of “delicious” character she’d like to play for a long, long time.
So, when Schaeffer and executive producer Mary Livanos later approached her about a potential spinoff series, Hahn jumped at the chance to step back into Agatha’s witchy shoes.
“They really had a strong vision for where Agatha could go,” Hahn explains. “Hook, line, and sinker, I would have followed them anywhere after WandaVision. To find people with that singular and unique of a vision — no pun intended — is so rare.”
“Generally at Marvel, there’s always a quest to have villains be not just one-note, and Agatha is the ultimate example of that,” Schaeffer adds. “She’s so complicated and has so many different dimensions and is never about world domination. There’s always something personal and nefarious and complex.”
The result is a twisty saga that follows Agatha down the Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet designed to test a witch’s power. One of Hahn’s favorite memories was the day she first stepped on to the sprawling Road set, and she and her costars (including Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, and Aubrey Plaza) spent as much time there as possible, marveling at every handcrafted tree or rustling leaf.
“Once you walked on the set, we didn’t really leave for the whole day,” Hahn explains. “We kind of had this little circle together between takes, where it really felt like a coven around a cauldron. We would just laugh, and you could hear our cackles probably on the other side.”
Even after spending so much time in Westview and on the Witches’ Road, Hahn still has a giddy joy when she talks about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, she never expected to someday lead her own Marvel series — let alone one as weird and as witchy as Agatha.
“I never thought I would ever be here,” she admits. “I’m still pinching myself. It’s great that it’s happening at this age in my life. All of it just feels very radical and very cool.”
Besides, she can’t resist a little magical mischief.
“I’ve always wanted to play a witch,” Hahn says, raising an eyebrow and giving that signature Agatha smirk. “I mean, who doesn’t want to play a witch?”
Agatha All Along premieres on Disney+ on September 18 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.
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