Kathy Najimy Says Getting Back Into Mary Anderson For Hocus Pocus ‘Was Easy’

Hocus Pocus has long been a beloved 90s film, particularly around Halloween. Kathy Najimy is best known for her roles in Soapdish (1991), Sister Act (1992), and Hocus Pocus (1993). Working with your heroes sounds like a wonderful job, and Kathy Najimy recently appeared to agree.

After nearly 30 years since the original, the actress confessed that getting back into character for the long-awaited Hocus Pocus 2 was a breeze. However, she claimed that the first time was easy because she was a huge fan of her co-star Bette Midler.

Kathy, who is 65, revealed all during an episode of The View on Friday, October 7th, when co-host Alyssa Farah-Griffin asked her about reuniting with Bette and Sarah Jessica Parker for the sequel. Kathy compared the situation to that of The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg recreating her role in Sister Act. She also stated that her character, Mary, was simple to understand.

When you do a role, and then you do it again, and then maybe we’re going to do it again. It isn’t rocket science. I had one motivation in Hocus Pocus and that was to eat as many children as I could and make Winnie, Bette Midler’s character, like me the best. I want to have a really great actor monologue about how I got into character.

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She not only understood Mary’s motivations, but she also stated that she had wished to work with Bette her entire career. “It was very easy for me, because growing up Bette Midler was everything to me. She was the idol of my life,” she said.

Then to hear 20 years later from Jeffrey Katzenberg: ‘We’re going to do this movie called Hocus Pocus, and we have an offer for you to play Bette Midler’s sister,’ and I thought, ‘Well…’

In addition to discussing the role, Whoopi told Kathy that Sister Act 3 was in the works. She also stated that she believed the reboot of Hocus Pocus was at least partly responsible for studio executives’ decision to give the classic musical a sequel, nearly 30 years after the second one. “You all helped it happen, I think, because they brought Hocus Pocus back, and they finally said, ‘We might as well put those nuns back out there, and see if they have any juice,’” Whoopi said.

Not only was the famous trio of witches reunited in the sequel, but so was Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson. The movie is now streaming on Disney+. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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