Are you a good witch or a bad witch? Both, in some actresses’ case!
In the late 1930s, onscreen witches made their mark on popular culture when Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and The Wizard of Oz premiered in 1937 and 1939, respectively. What led to tons of iconic celebrity costumes (remember Ellen DeGeneres and Drew Barrymore’s Glinda the Good Witch Halloween looks?) also sparked a craze that hasn’t slowed down yet — onscreen witches, from The Wicked Witch of the West to Wanda Maximoff.
While witch content had a big moment in the ‘90s (think Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed and Practical Magic), the 2000s have shown us that modern fans are just as game for a little bit of magic. In recent years, movies and shows including American Horror Story: Coven, WandaVision and The Witches have put spellbinding stars front and center.
In 2018, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina premiered on Netflix. Starring Kiernan Shipka, the show offered a darker look at the character Melissa Joan Hart made famous. Existing in the same universe as Riverdale, the series also went to show that any fandom can go crazy for a bit of sorcery.
“The whole concept of witches was that women were speaking up for themselves and fighting for their rights,” Mädchen Amick, who plays Alice Cooper on Riverdale, once said. “The whole concept of witchcraft came into play to hold down women and women’s empowerment.”
Even if they don’t play them on screen, many celebrities are into all things witchy.
“It would be no surprise to anyone I am not weirded out by ghosts or spirits. I am basically a witch,” Lorde told The Daily Telegraph in June 2017. Stevie Nicks, who played a version of herself on American Horror Story: Coven, has also shared her familiarity with the concept of magic.
“I totally believe in magic. Because my life, I think, has been very magic, and magical things have come true for me time after time after time,” she once said.
Scroll to see a list of actresses who have played witches in movies and TV through the years:
Are you a good witch or a bad witch? Both, in some actresses’ case!
In the late 1930s, onscreen witches made their mark on popular culture when Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and The Wizard of Oz premiered in 1937 and 1939, respectively. What led to tons of iconic celebrity costumes (remember Ellen DeGeneres and Drew Barrymore’s Glinda the Good Witch Halloween looks?) also sparked a craze that hasn’t slowed down yet — onscreen witches, from The Wicked Witch of the West to Wanda Maximoff.
While witch content had a big moment in the ‘90s (think Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed and Practical Magic), the 2000s have shown us that modern fans are just as game for a little bit of magic. In recent years, movies and shows including American Horror Story: Coven, WandaVision and The Witches have put spellbinding stars front and center.
In 2018, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina premiered on Netflix. Starring Kiernan Shipka, the show offered a darker look at the character Melissa Joan Hart made famous. Existing in the same universe as Riverdale, the series also went to show that any fandom can go crazy for a bit of sorcery.
“The whole concept of witches was that women were speaking up for themselves and fighting for their rights,” Mädchen Amick, who plays Alice Cooper on Riverdale, once said. “The whole concept of witchcraft came into play to hold down women and women’s empowerment.”
Even if they don’t play them on screen, many celebrities are into all things witchy.
“It would be no surprise to anyone I am not weirded out by ghosts or spirits. I am basically a witch,” Lorde told The Daily Telegraph in June 2017. Stevie Nicks, who played a version of herself on American Horror Story: Coven, has also shared her familiarity with the concept of magic.
“I totally believe in magic. Because my life, I think, has been very magic, and magical things have come true for me time after time after time,” she once said.
Scroll to see a list of actresses who have played witches in movies and TV through the years:
Actress: Kiernan Shipka
Show: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Year: 2018-2020
Actresses: Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone and Zoey Luna
Movie: The Craft: Legacy
Year: 2020
Actress: Anya Taylor-Joy
Movie: The Witch
Year: 2015
Actress: Anne Hathaway
Movie: The Witches
Year: 2020
Actresses: Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts, Jamie Brewer, Taissa Farmiga, Gabourey Sidibe
Show: American Horror Story: Coven
Year: 2013-2014
Actress: Bette Midler
Movie: Hocus Pocus
Year: 1993
Actresses: Madchen Amick, Rachel Boston, Julia Ormond, Jenna Dewan Tatum
Show: Witches of East End
Year: 2013
Actress: Michelle Williams
Movie: Oz the Great and Powerful
Year: 2013
Actress: Emma Watson
Movies: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and its seven sequels
Years: 2001-2011
Actress: Lana Parrilla
Show: Once Upon a Time
Year: 2011-2018
Actresses: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman
Movie: Practical Magic
Year: 1998
Actresses: Caroline Rhea, Melissa Joan Hart and Beth Broderick
Show: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Year: 1996-2003
Actresses: Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer
Movie: The Witches of Eastwick
Year: 1987
Actress: Kat Graham
Show: The Vampire Diaries
Year: 2009-2017
Actress: Susan Sarandon
Movie: Enchanted
Year: 2007
Actress: Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs
Show: Charmed
Years: 1998-2006 (Milano and Combs); 1998-2011 (Doherty)
Actress: Rachel Weisz
Movie: Oz the Great and Powerful
Year: 2013
Actresses: Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn and Jaime Ray Newman
Show: Eastwick
Year: 2009
Actress: Selena Gomez
Show: Wizards of Waverly Place
Year: 2007-2012
Actress: Britt Robertson
Show: The Secret Circle
Year: 2011-2012
Actress: Emmy Rossum
Movie: Beautiful Creatures
Year: 2013
Actress: Elizabeth Montgomery
Show: Bewitched
Year: 1964-1972
Actress: Neve Campbell
Movie: The Craft
Year: 1996
Actress: Margaret Hamilton
Movie: The Wizard of Oz
Year: 1939
Actress: Alyson Hannigan
Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Year: 1997-2003
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