Why The Witch Mother From Hocus Pocus 2 Looks So Familiar
This week, the Sanderson Sisters are back to craft another dose of chaos in Salem with the Disney+ sequel, "Hocus Pocus 2," and revive the magic they captured in 1993. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are back as Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson, respectively, and they've got a new band of youngsters to face off with during their quest for eternal life. But while the sisters might be up to their old tricks, "Hocus Pocus 2" makes a great effort to expand on the history of the favorite witch trio and adds the ingredients of an extra witch to do so.
It turns out that while the sisters have been in this infamous and nasty way since their childhood, the spell-casting spark was added thanks to a mysterious stranger and an eye-opening page-turner she offered up for free. Of course, finding someone with enough star power to help the Sandersons on their way demanded charm, comedic chops, and a noticeably welcome mean streak. While it's almost a crime that we don't get to spend more time with the witch, chances are that her schedule was packed with other stuff instead. Football is life, after all.
Hannah Waddingham was Septa Unella on Game of Thrones
Before she dabbled in black magic, Hannah Waddingham was naming and shaming royal figures on "Game of Thrones." Appearing in eight episodes of the award-winning show, she played a stone-faced disciple of the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), Septa Unella. She sent Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) through the streets and rang the bell for fans worldwide. While limited in dialogue, she still made a name for herself on the HBO show for crying "Shame!," proving that there are no small parts, only loud bells. With that said, her performance came at a price, with one day of filming becoming "the worst day of [her] life" (via Esquire).
Although her character met a gristly demise off-camera, it was Headey's actions that Waddingham admitted left lasting effects. One scene required her to essentially be waterboarded, which she described as harrowing. "Lena was uncomfortable pouring liquid in my face for that long, and I was beside myself," Waddingham said. "I hadn't even realized that it definitely gave me claustrophobia around water." Regardless of the experience, though, the former bell ringer kept the item that made her such an icon, explaining on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," "That's when you know that your character's really dead, when they give you the hero thing of your character. They're like, 'And thank you very much and goodbye.'"
Waddingham changed Krypton history as Jax-Ur
Given that just about anyone and their Hollywood-inhabiting aunt has to dabble in a comic book world at some point in their career, Hannah Waddingham starred on the shortlived Superman prequel series "Krypton." Appearing on Syfy for two seasons before its cancellation, the show was set 200 years before the birth of Kal-El, aka Superman, and before the planet went kablooey. Not only did it play around with the DC timeline for certain characters, but it also gender-swapped Waddingham's role of stern rebel leader Jax-Ur.
In the comics, Jax-Ur is a male antagonist to Superman and another surviving Kryptonian at odds with the Man of Steel. On the short-lived show, however, Waddingham's iteration alternately joins with both General Zod (Colin Salmon) and Val-El (Ian McElhinney), Superman's great-great-grandfather. Due to the show's cancellation, Waddingham's character didn't get the best send-off, keeping in line with the planet's somewhat devastating history.
She was a model mother on Sex Education
Before she found out that football was life on "Ted Lasso," Hannah Waddingham appeared as a supporting star on Netflix's "Sex Education" as Sofia Marchetti. The hit show focuses on the complex love life of students in a school full of sexually charged teens dealing with their troubles. More prominent in the first and second seasons, Sofia is the loving but forceful mother of Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling), who took a while to accept that her son wanted to be more than just the top-level athlete she was making him out to be. During the third season, Waddingham's schedule filled up thanks to Apple TV+'s "Ted Lasso." As a result, she was noticeably absent until making a surprising appearance in Episode 8.
Talking to Collider about her limited screen time, she revealed that while Sofia and her on-screen wife, Roz (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), are "barely" in the show's latest season, she was glad to see that the story for her on-screen son was set to be a great one. "I will tell you that Season 3 and my boy Jackson, Kedar, his contribution becomes increasingly beautiful." Here's hoping that while football might be life for Waddingham right now, she'll be back for another lesson on sex education in the show's upcoming fourth season.
Waddingham takes the biscuit as Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso
She might be the Witch Mother who makes an all-too-brief cameo in "Hocus Pocus 2," but Hannah Waddingham's most iconic role in her career is undoubtedly the slowly melting ice queen of AFC Richmond on "Ted Lasso." After ringing bells and being an overbearing parent, Waddingham stole hearts on Apple TV+'s Emmy Award-winning show and earned a shiny statue herself in the process as Rebecca Welton. Waddingham has been one of the many highlights of the Jason Sudeikis-starring show and will be returning this year for Season 3.
In her acceptance speech for the Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy, Waddingham expressed her immense gratitude for the role that propelled her to be one of the most notable talents on television in the past two years. She called out to her "Ted Lasso" team, saying, "Jason, you've changed my life with this and more importantly my baby girls', and I will f***ing work for you for as long as you'll let me." She quickly praised her co-star and friend Juno Temple, who was also up for the nomination, saying, "There's no Rebecca without Keeley, and if you ever leave my life, I'm going to stalk you." Now wouldn't that be a shame?