- 6 weeks ago
Nearly 30 years after 'Practical Magic,' Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock reunite to welcome a new generation of Owens sisters into the fold for 'Practical Magic 2.' Joined by Maisie Williams, Joey King, Xolo Maridueña, and Lee Pace, Nicole and Sandra reflect on coming back together after “so much life” in between films, why their opposite personalities still make them perfectly matched onscreen, and the devoted fans who turned the original movie into a cult classic. “You can’t ignore this,” Nicole says of the years-long call for a sequel.
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00:00I've never ridden a broomstick before, and I felt like this movie might...
00:05Is broomstick code for Sandra Bullock in this one there?
00:11That might be Practical Magic 3.
00:14It's so hot in here.
00:15I know, I'm a little...
00:16I got really warm too.
00:24Oh, for Sandra.
00:25Sandra, when you first heard Practical Magic was coming back, what was the very first
00:30scene or memory from the original that popped into your head?
00:34Do that again.
00:35That's excellent.
00:36Good timing.
00:37I just didn't expect her to hit me.
00:38Magic.
00:39I should tell you, that's my memory.
00:41Is Nicole Kidman hitting me?
00:45There's nothing to tell you.
00:47Poor baby.
00:49Oh my God.
00:50I don't know why this is a memory that sticks with me, but we were sitting outside on the
00:54island because the house was a facade except for the kitchen.
00:57It was freezing.
00:59We were in our little down coats under the little tent, and we were just...
01:02I think it was the first time that we'd ever had a conversation about life.
01:06Your hair's in your eyeballs.
01:09She's like a cat.
01:10She's like...
01:12It was the first time we had a real conversation, and I remember that, and it just felt really...
01:17I just remember how she looked and the moon glow off her hair, but it was really...
01:22It was nice.
01:22It made me feel safe, and that's what I remember.
01:25No.
01:26And then she became a beast.
01:28Yeah, I was just so excited because I wanted to...
01:32Our paths had crossed, but I was just so excited for us to...
01:35We'd had so much life, and to be able to go and come back together with all of that,
01:43that's what I was like, tell me.
01:46Tell me your story.
01:47Tell me what...
01:47And I just was like a sponge, because she's sort of magical, Sandy, so it's kind of lovely being in
01:54her orbit.
01:55It is.
01:56It is.
01:59Oh, no.
02:00Not you.
02:01Don't be scared, Lee.
02:02Okay.
02:03Nicole.
02:04Oh!
02:06You and Sandra have one of those screen pairings...
02:10No kidding.
02:10It's so crazy that it's me, and I'm reading it.
02:13You and Sandra have one of those screen pairings audiences instantly believe.
02:17What's something about working together that still feels exactly the same, and what's evolved?
02:23We're still exactly the same.
02:26I really think...
02:27I hope not.
02:27No, but we have so much.
02:29We're so different, and then we have so much in common.
02:33So I always learn from her, because she's got an incredible amount of pragmatism.
02:39I know.
02:40It's like, I'm the practical one.
02:41She is.
02:42Yeah.
02:42But she is.
02:43Yeah.
02:44Right?
02:44I mean, you really are.
02:45And I'm the base, and I'm boring.
02:46We've already stood up all day.
02:48And no one says you're boring, but she can still dance.
02:53She can dance the pants off any of us.
02:56There you go.
02:58No magic is stronger than sisterhood.
03:02Cast by fate, tested by time, and never broken.
03:08What is wrong with you?
03:09Are you like six?
03:10Are you six?
03:11You seem similar to your character.
03:14And it is endlessly entertaining.
03:16Yeah.
03:16Draining?
03:17Did you see?
03:18Entertaining.
03:18What did you say?
03:19Entertaining.
03:20It's so draining.
03:21Yeah, it is.
03:22Here they come.
03:23But it is endlessly draining.
03:25No, it ends, like, every day on set, you can just sit back and watch.
03:29Getting the scene together, shooting the scene.
03:32But also, there's so much, like, so much exquisite acting choices, too.
03:37It's not just, like, it comes so easy.
03:39You guys have such an embodiment.
03:41But you guys are opposites in, like, the coolest, cutest way ever.
03:45Yeah, we are.
03:46Remember the plane analogy?
03:47Someone said, how is it that you guys work together?
03:50I go, we're like two planes coming onto the same runway at the same time, and we have to figure
03:54out how to jockey for position.
03:55We'll keep each other safe, but one of us wants to get ahead, but we will defer.
04:00Like, if someone's ahead, we'll go, okay, you go ahead and land.
04:03You land.
04:03But next time, I get to land.
04:05Yeah, safety first.
04:07Safety first.
04:08Safety first.
04:09Oh, for Lee.
04:11Oh, my goodness.
04:12Step into the hot seat.
04:14Yes.
04:14The range of characters you've played in your career are incredibly diverse.
04:19What attracted you to this particular world where magic is almost treated like another member of the family?
04:26What a beautifully phrased question.
04:28I did not write it myself.
04:30And your delivery was impeccable.
04:33Really.
04:34Oh, my God.
04:36I've never ridden a broomstick before, and I felt like this movie might have given me the opportunity to do
04:42it.
04:43Sadly, I wasn't asked to.
04:46Is broomstick code for Sandra Bullock in this one there?
04:53That might be Project Magic 3.
04:57The opening.
04:58Okay, you can tell me.
05:00Oh, my God.
05:01She's genius.
05:02It's my name.
05:03Wow.
05:04I was just in so hot.
05:06I know.
05:06I'm a little scared.
05:07I got really warm, too.
05:10May I?
05:13Joe?
05:16Love this.
05:18You're scared.
05:20She's scared.
05:20You're afraid of your power.
05:22Well, I've seen what my power can do.
05:24You ignore your heritage at your peril.
05:28Oh, my God.
05:28Oh, my God.
05:28Can we please not do the peril speech?
05:31It's just...
05:31You're blocked.
05:32Yeah.
05:32She's very blocked.
05:33You know what?
05:34I'm not a drain.
05:36I'm a human being.
05:37Highly repressed human being.
05:39Okay, what was the question?
05:40It's not...
05:41What attracted you to this world with your diverse career, basically, is the question.
05:45Oh, um...
05:46You don't...
05:46I'm such a huge fan of the original.
05:48I remember when...
05:50When Santa called me and wanted to talk about the movie.
05:53I had...
05:54I zoomed you.
05:55You zoomed me, and it was like...
05:57A modern woman.
05:58I mean, imagine getting...
06:00Imagine.
06:01Imagine getting, like, getting yourself dressed in your favorite shirt and showing up to a
06:07Zoom call with this beauty.
06:09Who wouldn't want to do this movie?
06:11We got lucky.
06:11We got very lucky.
06:12But I was, like, inundated with all these great images of the first movie.
06:16You blowing out the candles on the fireplace.
06:18You with those super cool sunglasses.
06:21Right?
06:22The margaritas.
06:23There's so many, like, things I remembered about that first movie.
06:27And then I re-watched it, and...
06:28You hated it.
06:29I was like, what have I gotten myself into?
06:31They're gonna kill me.
06:33Love it.
06:34You warned them.
06:35I did.
06:36I love them at all.
06:37Yay, Maisie!
06:37I know you love monologues.
06:38For Joey.
06:40Oh, my God.
06:41That was all right.
06:41Joining a film with such an established legacy could feel intimidating.
06:46Was there a moment when you stopped feeling like the new person and started feeling like
06:52part of the Owens family?
06:54Great question.
06:55I actually did write this one.
06:57You did this?
06:57Did you?
06:58You're good, Maisie.
07:00Good action.
07:01You're so good.
07:02I have to say, when I got the initial call with...
07:08I had...
07:09I also had a Zoom with Sandy, and obviously I've known Nicole for a while.
07:14Nicole and I got to work together before.
07:16There was such an essence of welcoming energy to this set.
07:20Of course, when you're, like, the new kid in town, you get in your own head about everything,
07:25and you're like, oh, my God, like, I hope this is good.
07:27I hope this is in the right world.
07:28I hope I'm doing okay.
07:30But that was all me.
07:32Everyone else made me feel like I was supposed to be there from day one, you know, which was
07:36really, really nice.
07:37So I think I let that mentality go.
07:41I think every time I'm on a set, it takes me, like, two weeks to be like, they're not
07:44going to fire me.
07:44I'm having a good time.
07:46I've been in too much stuff.
07:47It'd be really hard for them to fire me.
07:49So it took me about two weeks to get out of my own way, but everyone else made me feel
07:55like I was so welcomed from the beginning.
07:58I felt like a true Owens woman from the moment I, from the moment you called and from the
08:05moment you called.
08:06And then, yeah, and it was just.
08:09And you have red hair now.
08:11And I liked it so much that I kept it.
08:13Yeah.
08:13Yeah.
08:14She's the redhead.
08:15I know.
08:15And now you're, and now you're not.
08:17So, I mean, like.
08:18I go back and forth.
08:19That's all right.
08:19Well, we'll link up again at some point.
08:21I think actually, probably me, I came to this, I auditioned, I met Susanna.
08:27And then when I, I got to the read through, I was so nervous to meet everyone.
08:35And Joey sits down, like, next to me.
08:38And it was like, oh my God, I'm going to be fine.
08:40I have you.
08:43And, like, everyone just kept saying, what is it that you two are talking about?
08:46It's like, I, we have not stopped talking.
08:49No.
08:50I know.
08:50And we can't, I know we can't stop talking.
08:52And I think just, like, feeling, yeah, feeling like I had you as my person to go to if I
08:57felt,
08:58like, terrified for whatever reason.
09:01And, like, you both have just been so welcoming.
09:03And, like, I think you text me immediately, like, just let me know if you ever need anything.
09:08I was like, this is crazy.
09:10That was my sister.
09:11I just had my sister.
09:13But I met you.
09:14Because I did call the number the other day.
09:16It's not mine, right?
09:16Yeah.
09:17It's disconnected.
09:19Beep, beep, beep.
09:21So it was just, yeah, the best.
09:23Just, like, in every day, you know, up until the end of the film and we were having sleepovers
09:28and we were just, like, completely inseparable.
09:30It just felt good to have that.
09:31And today.
09:32And today.
09:34Nothing's changed.
09:35Here we are.
09:37The laugh.
09:38I know, I'm upset.
09:39I hope you're getting her laugh.
09:40She's the greatest laugh.
09:41It's the best laugh ever.
09:43My favorite.
09:44She's like, mm.
09:44Sherlock, when did you feel at home?
09:46I also was nervous heading into the table read with everyone.
09:49Yeah.
09:50And yet, it was all built up in my head.
09:53Everyone was so kind.
09:56Table reads are scary.
09:57And our director and the greater team did a great job of throwing us in the deep end right
10:04at the beginning.
10:05Right.
10:05Right.
10:05I was happy to do a dance party and get undressed all on the same day.
10:12That was so brave of you.
10:13I, yeah, I was definitely in my diary at the end of that day, like, well, well, well.
10:20This, I, this is.
10:22Well, well, well, well.
10:23Did you write like that?
10:24It's like a cake.
10:26This is my.
10:27You're carving it into stone.
10:28My ransom note.
10:30Please.
10:30No, no, no.
10:31Well, well.
10:33That's all it, yeah.
10:34Next day.
10:37You don't believe we're cursed?
10:39No.
10:41We're Owen's women.
10:43Love is our undoing.
10:44What if your guys were all just a little bit dramatic?
10:48All right, let me jump in here.
10:50Oh, he stole it from me.
10:52You got it.
10:52Okay.
10:53For Maisie.
10:55You've played characters and worlds with incredibly devoted fandoms before.
10:59I have.
11:00What have you learned about stepping into stories that fans feel protective of?
11:06Hmm.
11:06That's a really great question.
11:08That's a really great question.
11:08Yeah.
11:09I think that, I think like getting on board with like the fandom of something is really important
11:15because then I think you can like come to it from a place of like, well, this is, this
11:19is what I think it should be.
11:21Like if you can read everything and you can get into the world of it, then you can be a
11:26part of that too and, and be protective over it as well.
11:30And I think that then gives you kind of an authenticity of like how you play these characters
11:34and you know why it means a lot to people.
11:37Um, but ultimately I think you have to find your own connection to that.
11:41And that doesn't necessarily mean like listening to everyone's opinion, but just forming your
11:46own about what you feel it should be.
11:49Um, and being like proud of that because that, you know, I think even amongst fandoms, people
11:55disagree.
11:55So like, you know, you can't, you can't please everyone.
11:58I mean, that was part of the reason we wanted to do it.
12:01Yeah.
12:01It was that sort of calling almost where it was like, okay, you can't ignore this now.
12:06I have a girl that works with me who is a super fan.
12:10And so she was watching over it always.
12:13And, and I've a number of people that I know who are, who are just uber fans.
12:18And that was kind of lovely because it was all like, well, this and this and this, and
12:22they know every detail.
12:24So it was like, okay.
12:26And not to forget that when we first came out, it was a bumpy road for us.
12:31Like we knew what we were making and why we were making it.
12:33But the response wasn't what it is now.
12:37Different time.
12:39But, you know, the junket is like, if I heard one more time, you know, how many women do
12:45you need in a film?
12:46Like, you know, like, you know, how many tones?
12:51There's just so many tones, like comedy and drama and magic.
12:55And I'm like, have you lived any life?
12:57It's like, so it was, it was surprising.
13:00I think when I, cause I, I don't want to say I had shame, but I was, I was sad
13:04at how
13:05it sort of was received initially.
13:09So when it caught, it caught its wave with those who were supposed to find it and they
13:15were able to coven and communicate with social media, everyone found each other.
13:19And we didn't realize how big that audience was.
13:22And they championed it together.
13:25Which was amazing.
13:27Yeah.
13:28So it was sort of like this groundswell of sisterhood that just went, no, this is our film.
13:34Yeah.
13:34We love it.
13:35We rewatch it over and over again.
13:37And you have to make it.
13:38Yeah.
13:39And which, a lot of pressure.
13:40There's something about the way the movie balances the sadness with the funny and the
13:46magic that is, that people crave right now.
13:50That increasingly we want to be able to hold all of that stuff together in a way.
13:56To kind of be able to, um, to it on with our mind, the sad things or the, the, the
14:01riddles
14:02and, um, still have a, a good feeling.
14:05I would say that's one of the reasons people come to the movie.
14:10And, um, want to relive that experience.
14:14Yeah, you're right.
14:15Anyway.
14:15So, how many tones do you need?
14:17All of them to live a good life.
14:19And it's incredible how you balance them.
14:21That's it.
14:22We finish on that.
14:23And now it's Lee's turn.
14:25Shola?
14:26Shola.
14:26Shola.
14:27Yes.
14:28Shola.
14:29This cast spans multiple generations of actors.
14:32What's a piece of advice or even just an observation you picked up from watching everyone work?
14:37I feel like I had some really great chats with all of y'all.
14:41I mean, I, I am definitely an observer when it comes to being on set.
14:45I like have two ears and one mouth and can kind of resort to being a little bit more quiet.
14:51But I was incredibly impressed at, there's so much talk about work-life balance in so many
14:58different industries, but especially in, in our workplace.
15:01And I was so impressed at, at all of our, you know, cast and crew's ability to find that balance.
15:08We were, we'd be filming outside in the garden and we'd get to go back to the break room for
15:14a little
15:14bit and I would see Sandra on the phone with her son, you know, going over homework.
15:20These people care on camera and off camera in a way that left me buzzing.
15:25Even after I left, I was so pleased to get to share with my family and my friends, how warm
15:32and intentional
15:33everyone was.
15:34And I really appreciated our conversations that we got to have and the moments that we got to share.
15:39But yeah, just, they, they were leading by example.
15:41I'd say that's one of the biggest things I take away.
15:43It's like one thing to say how, you know, you want a set to be or how you want to
15:48operate,
15:49but to lead by example is, is important.
15:51And our leaders here were class acts.
15:55Away, Nicole.
15:58Throw it away.
15:59Brace free.
16:00Every actor at this table has played a role in a superhero film or series with the exception
16:05of one.
16:08What advice would each of you give Sandy, Sandra, I call it, if she ever agreed to play a superhero
16:16and who should she play?
16:18Oh my God.
16:19She is a superhero.
16:20This is what my son talks to me.
16:22He's like, play herself.
16:22You need to do a Marvel film.
16:24I don't need to do anything but tell you to clean up a damn world.
16:29You need a superhero.
16:31She's already a superhero.
16:32I feel like, Shola, you should go first because you've been the, you're the biggest
16:35superhero.
16:36Whoa, whoa, whoa.
16:38For sure.
16:38For sure.
16:38For the Beatles.
16:38Come on.
16:38It's the Beatles.
16:39Come on.
16:39Mr. Beatle.
16:41Advice, make sure you got the zipper placement right.
16:44Oh.
16:44No.
16:45You don't necessarily want three people to have to help you use the restroom every time
16:50you got to go.
16:50I like it.
16:51It's like a wedding dress.
16:52You want something that.
16:54In and out easily.
16:54That's an excellent, excellent.
16:56That's a very practical one.
16:56That's a very sandy piece of advice.
16:58It's a practical piece of advice.
17:00That's true.
17:00You know, because by the time you've got to go pee, you're already like 15 minutes
17:04too late.
17:05And it's going to take some time to get out.
17:07Help me.
17:07Help me.
17:08You really feel like, get me out of here.
17:11Get me out of here.
17:12But aside from that, and you're kind of already doing this, like it was so important to, yeah,
17:20to lead like a hero.
17:25And sometimes that meant kind of not faking it so you make it, but.
17:28That's a really interesting thing.
17:30Feeling that you are that.
17:32Yeah.
17:32Like we're in character.
17:33I am a mom.
17:34I can feel that.
17:35Judgy eyes.
17:36I'm not doing judgy eyes.
17:37I'm just thinking.
17:39I'm just thinking.
17:42I mean, but that's a good question.
17:45Like you have to embody and take ownership of being a savior.
17:50Yeah.
17:50Yeah.
17:51It really helps.
17:52Can't do it.
17:52Play a villain.
17:54What are you saying?
17:56Play a villain.
17:56That would be delicious.
17:58I would love to see you.
17:59I did play a villain, but it was an animated film.
18:01So that's.
18:02And you were great.
18:03It was really fun.
18:04It's kind of nice to be really mean.
18:06I don't really know a lot of superhero characters.
18:10Period.
18:11So I didn't.
18:11I couldn't tell you which one to be.
18:13I feel like what would you.
18:13You would.
18:14Yeah.
18:14Nothing.
18:15But I just think you should be one where you really like the outfit.
18:17Because you're going to do that a lot.
18:18It's got to.
18:18I have to be cute and have a cinched waist and elongate the leg.
18:21Right.
18:22Yeah.
18:22You should be Mrs. Incredible.
18:24Mrs. Incredible.
18:26But isn't there already a Mrs. Incredible?
18:28Well, not in live action.
18:29You should be Mrs. Incredible.
18:30You've got the body for it.
18:31With a little boss.
18:31That's a onesie.
18:32That's a full on onesie.
18:33You would be so good.
18:35Why?
18:35You don't think I can do it?
18:36No.
18:36No, I didn't say that.
18:37You can be Mr. Incredible and we can continue our.
18:42Done.
18:43What do I say?
18:44Sparkle Sparkle.
18:45Thank you so much.
18:47Bye.
18:50Trainwreck.