Mary is interesting in a certain way…
Fans who watched Hocus Pocus 2 with keen vision noticed that the character of Mary Sanderson, played by Kathy Najimy, had undergone a change since the first film.
On September 30, a comedic film starring Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bette Midler as a trio of witch sisters who are accidentally resurrected by a virgin teenage boy in Salem, Massachusetts were released as a sequel to the hit movie Hocus Pocus, which was released in 1993. Hocus Pocus was a comedy starring these three actresses.
Mary, played by Kathy Najimy, is recognizable by her signature crooked smile. This was a spur-of-the-moment addition to her character by Najimy during filming, and it was a result of her mouth being turned to the right. However, in the new movie, her mouth is positioned more to the left than it was before.
Fans may have anticipated that the change would have some sort of deeper significance, but Najimy told Entertainment Weekly that this was not the case: “It’s on the other side mainly because it’s so hard for me to do it on the side I did it on 30 years ago. I’m sure the fans are going to go into deep detail about why it’s on the other side.”
“It’s just something I came up with the first week. This is a big comedy, so you don’t have to be subtle or have a 40-page Shakespearean backstory,” she added.
Najimy continues by saying that they offer the audience a cryptic justification for the change that was made in the movie, saying: “We can justify it because there’s a scene at the beginning where Winnie [Bette Midler] slaps me, and my mouth goes to the other side, and then she slaps me again and it goes to the other side, and sticks.”
Najimy revealed that she had broken a rib to People magazine in 2021 while she was taking a break from filming the sequel. She said the following: “The day I wrapped, I went over to my friend’s house. And I saw that she had one of those machines that you put your legs in and you go upside down and it stretches you, because I have one. And I said, ‘Oh my God, I have one of these in home.'”
However: “It flipped up, my foot didn’t quite make it into the thing … and I fell like an accordion. And broke my rib.”
“So my whole week off that we were supposed to enjoy the holidays, I was healing, but it’s fine. And then I was back at work wrapped up. Half the movie, I have a broken rib,” the 65-year-old added.
The Sanderson sisters, Winnie, Mary, and Sarah, are brought back to life on Halloween night by a group of young children in the most recent installment of the Halloween horror film that has become a cult classic. The movie also transports viewers to New England in the 1600s, the time period during which witchcraft was first documented there.
“[We] explain how they got to the point where they gladly become witches. They’re so tight as sisters, and that’s explained. It’s quite satisfying,” Midler told Entertainment Weekly.
The 1993 version of Hocus Pocus was initially met with negative reviews, and it cost Disney a total of $16.5 million during its run in theaters; despite this, the film has gradually evolved into a cult classic over the years, especially since it is frequently screened during the month of October.
Fans of the first film are already falling in love with the second installment of the Hocus Pocus franchise, which is now available to watch on Disney+. After all, is said and done, it’s just a bunch of witchcraft and hocus pocus.
