Q : What was it about Agatha as a character in WandaVision that made you say: “You know, there’s more to her story”? 

Jac Schaeffer: At Marvel, there’s always a quest to have villains be not just unidimensional, and Agatha is the ultimate example of that. She’s so complicated and has so many different dimensions. There’s always something personal and nefarious and complex, which is where we began with her. When Kathryn was cast, it became an everything-character. She was so hilarious and personable. There was this huge scope of her, this voracious appetite for power. Kathryn embodied all of that. There was the fun and the charm, and then there was the gravitas. Agatha is a character that we can explore forever.

Kathryn Hahn: I love this part so much. A lot of Agatha in WandaVision was performed. She’s such a performer herself. We kept calling her a blooming onion, there were so many layers in WandaVision, layers of defense that have been built up over centuries. She looks fabulous but she’s not young. Working with Jac felt immediately great in WandaVision. I could just hear the words that she had written down on the page. I knew the rhythm. I knew the, like, tone. So it felt very natural.

Q : Was it the music that attracted you to this role, or have you just always really wanted to play a witch?

Patti Lupone: I think I am a witch. I do. I think I’m a Sicilian witch. I thought I was before I got the telephone call from Jac and Mary. It was like destiny, like the universe was unfolding.

Q : Rio is a fascinating character. She has a history with Agatha that spans centuries. Without giving anything away, what can we expect from her when she shows up in Agatha: All Along?

Aubrey Plaza: I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything, which is what I love about being on this show, you’re not allowed to say anything or you get in trouble. All I’ll say about my character is that you can expect the unexpected. You have no idea what’s gonna happen with her, there are twists and turns and all kinds of shenanigans happening. Kathryn and I were both on Parks and Recreation a long, long time ago, but we never really had any screen time. So I was excited to go toe to toe with Kathryn and get to sink my teeth in.

Kathryn Hahn: Aubrey always delivers one of those performers that I admire so much. She doesn’t want to stay on the surface. She’s hilarious and also can be really weird. I love her.

Q : What was it about Alice’s character that intrigued you and wanted to unlock it?

Ali Ahn: She has a lot of emotional growth that she needs to do. You could say that about a lot of the characters in the show. She’s hiding when you meet her. She’s wearing a disguise to the world. What was interesting was to play with how much you reveal, she’s someone who’s acting way tougher than she seems, and that’s always interesting.

@Courtesy of Marvel

Q : Jennifer seems very poised and put together. But she goes on this journey with Agatha. Why does she choose to embark on the Witches’ Road?

Sasheer Zamata: Jennifer, like everybody in the Coven, needs to work on trusting other people. Agatha has a long history with a lot of witches. We have a nice, fun love-hate relationship going on. It makes a very fun scene partner when we’re playing together. Jennifer wants to be able to open herself up to other witches, and also find what she desires at the end of the road. That’s what starts this whole journey. That makes sense.

Q : What was fun for you about getting to shape the world of Agatha: All Along?

Mary Livanos: WandaVision has a grab bag of different tones, which is so amazing. It has music, but it’s not a musical. It has drama, but not a drama. Comedy, but not exactly a comedy. It’s all of those things. And that was all kicked off by Hahn who embodied just absolutely everything in WandaVision. WandaVision has a fun iterative quality. This time around, we are almost wholly practical. We’re recapturing the golden age of Hollywood filmmaking as we did with WandaVision, but this time with fantasy and horror. We’re utilizing miniatures and backdrops. A lot of practical, cool elements. And special makeup effects too, which make this a magical world that will feel real to the audience.

Patti LuPone: When we walked onto the set of The Witches’ Road I think several of us burst into tears or started weeping. In my case, I’ve never seen a more beautiful set in my life. It was just stunning.

Kathryn Hahn: Once you walked on the set, we didn’t leave for the whole day. We had this little circle together, between takes, where it felt like a Coven around. Like we just would laugh. You could hear our cackles, probably on the other side. It also was so immersive as an actor that you didn’t have to shake off the outside world. You felt so implanted in this magical place. And because it was mostly practical, that also felt very witchy, connected to the earth. It wasn’t like something you had to imagine.

Q :  What are the biggest challenges in playing a villain like Agatha Harkness? 

Kathryn Hahn: The villain part is fun and almost the easiest part because it’s her well-honed performance. The hard stuff was to allow herself to crack the door to her vulnerability, That was such a challenge and the juiciest.

Q: The costumes are so detailed and you all get some interesting different looks. Did any of you have a particular favorite costume of all the ones you get to wear?

Kathryn Hahn: To me, it would be the jacket I wore when you first saw me as Agatha. It’s like a coat, Daniel Selon, who did our costumes, is also a magician, like He’s a wizard, he was so invested in the soul of this. And so, every time you put it on, it just felt like magic. That’s my favorite.

Patti LuPone: I loved my Sicilian uniform. Daniel also planted in the coat, earth, and sky, and symbols that represented astrology. It was just a great piece of clothing that could be worn today.

Ali Ahn: Everything is deliberate. Every symbol that you might not see unless you were standing right up close. Daniel paid so much attention to detail. Even in the lining of Kathryn’s coat, it’s not just a lining. There are images inside the coat that the audience probably will never know about.

@Courtesy of Marvel

Q : How did you want to approach the look of Rio? 

Aubrey Plaza: Not really.  As Kathryn said, Daniel is such a genius and everything that he brought into the fitting was kind of amazing and nailing it. I was happy to go along for the ride. There are subtle little things and little ideas that we would come up with together. That was one thing I loved about working with him, he’s so playful. Even in the fittings, we would create this environment with music and we would just mess around. So, there were all kinds of little subtle things that we came up with together.

Q : Is there something that you learned from making WandaVision that was helpful as you started to construct Agatha: All Along?

Jac Schaeffer: I left WandaVision with an appetite for more. It was so exciting to do all those different shows and the hair and makeup, wardrobe, music, everything. When we decided to do a show based on Agatha, we had to do it times a thousand. On WandaVision we had done a lot of practical because it was appropriate for the era, but we doubled down on Agatha, it has been harder but so much grander and satisfying. A lot of my personal influences, like Neverending Story, Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Being on the sets felt like I was six years old, it was thrilling.

Mary Livanos: For this, we had to keep the bar really high. This, once again, is a puzzle box show where every episode brings something completely different, something new to look forward to. It will keep audiences guessing until the very end and give them something to delight in every episode.

Kathryn Hahn: In WandaVision, there are some genuine, good old-fashioned surprises. I didn’t get to be directed by Jac the first time, I just wrote that gorgeous stories, so exciting to be directed by her. She’s incredible. Can’t wait for her to do more and more. Also, there’s something about these incredible worlds where you have to surrender because it’s a real, living, breathing organism. You have to just be open.

Q: Were there any effects that you did practically that you were really proud and excited about?

Mary Livatos: The Head of special effects who is on every Marvel show worked on WandaVision with us. We thought he would be bored on that show, but we were amazed to find that he studied under the folks who did Bewitched, so he was stoked to do the practical magic. We have some huge practical effects that we, especially Jac, fought for. When they hit, they really hit. We were all shocked by the magnitude of some of these effects.

Jac Schaeffer: That man did Jumanji! I’m a fan of real physical transformation, in stories. And these witches get filthy, wet, scarred, scratched. There’s no adding of digital blood and digital mud. These ladies were messed up.

Q: In the trailer, we see Rio both assisting Agatha and seemingly attacking her. What can fans expect from the dynamic between Agatha and Rio?

Aubrey Plaza: I think they can expect a very intense dynamic. One that has all the colors of the rainbow. They should be scared and excited and just raise the bar really high.

@Courtesy of Marvel

Q: What about the title?  Did you always know it was gonna be Agatha All Along? 

Brad Winderbaum: It was always gonna be Agatha All Along. I’ve been able to work with so many amazing filmmakers and been invited into their imaginations, and Jac Schaeffer has one of the most wonderful, deep, fulfilling imaginations I’ve ever been able to be a part of. This show is just an opportunity to walk around in her head. The title reveals it is only the tip of the iceberg of that. There are so many revelations in this show that are so beautiful, it’s remarkable work.

Q: What do you guys hope that the audience will take away from this show when they get to join you on this journey down the Witches’ Road?

Ali Ahn: You’re watching all these characters be so courageous, it inspires people to keep trying. All of them are a mess, but they’re pushing through that, and that’s really beautiful in the story.

Kathryn Hahn: The community is important and friends are important. You can’t do it alone. Our like power is really in who we are.

Sasheer Zamata: We see in the show that this coven is discovering that you can have magic within you and externally it’s all around you. Hopefully, people will watch it and also realize that it is in their own lives.

Aubrey Plaza: I hope that people start dabbling into the dark arts more and start trying to harness the power of the moon, which I’ve been saying for years is real. And I hope this show finally lets people in on that.