'Agatha All Along' crafts a witch coven community run by women

By Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Kathryn Hahn met with a person she describes as a real-life witch every week to help her further embrace her role as the witch Agatha Harkness in the show "Agatha All Along."

“Her mission was to try to de-trope what we see as witches and really add the aspect of community and nature,” Hahn said.

The Marvel miniseries created by director Jac Schaeffer serves as a spin-off of the Emmy-winning Disney Plus series “WandaVision,” also created by Schaeffer.

Hahn reprises her role as Harkness from “WandaVision” and is joined by Debra Jo Rupp, who reprises her role as Mrs. Hart; Aubrey Plaza; Joe Locke; Patti LuPone; Sasheer Zamata and Ali Ahn.

The first two of the nine episodes of “Agatha All Along” arrive on Disney Plus on Wednesday.

The show picks up after the events of “WandaVision,” as Harkness finds herself still trapped in the town of Westview, New Jersey, under a trance.

However, she is able to escape from the town with the help of a goth teenage witch who encourages her to regain her powers by facing the trials of the legendary “Witches’ Road.”

Together, Harkness and the goth youth, who is called "Teen" since his name is not immediately revealed, recruit other witches to join their new coven and embark on a journey for magical powers.

For Schaeffer, it was important to tell a story about women in power and assemble a team of writers that could explore the different supernatural gifts that witches across mythology and popular culture possess.

“I tasked the writers with really in-depth research,” she said.

“They all had sort of different areas of interest. You know, one writer was really into tarot. One writer was very into herbology and trees, and then others were big fans of certain kinds of witchy content,” she added.

Another aspect of women in power that struck the cast and creatives was that the coven of women witches was created by real-life women.

"I mean directed by women, written by a woman, acted by women, and Joe (Joe Locke)," Rupp said, highlighting the majority work from women on the series.

For Ahn, the miniseries also shows the range of what it means to be a powerful woman by introducing complex and flawed characters.

"There's not just one way that you can embody power," Ahn said. "You know, there's all the witches, all the characters are so different. I think that's pretty remarkable. It's like, the diversity of the way in which these women will show up, you know, literal and emotional."

The coven also expressed themselves through music, including a special witches’ song called “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road" that they sing together.

For three-time Tony-winning Broadway performer Patti LuPone, playing the witch named Lilia Calderu felt like it was meant to be.

“You know, it becomes fated or destiny when you start to recognize, ‘OK, I played a witch in 'Penny Dreadful' and now I'm playing another witch,” LuPone said.

“I've done tarot in 'American Horror Story,' and now, it's this," she added.

(Reporting by Danielle Broadway and Rollo Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jonathan Oatis)