Sasheer Zamata knew she was the perfect person to play MCU sorceress Jennifer Kale before Marvel did. In 2022, the actress and comedian recorded a stand-up special about how women have been mistreated in society over centuries, from gender bias in healthcare to abysmal sex education to the negative stereotype of the witch. She released the special the following year under the title The First Woman, but, initially, it was to be named The Witching Hour. As the planetary alignments would have it, in the interim she landed a role in another witchy project: Disney's WandaVision spinoff, Agatha All Along, about the fan-favorite witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn).
“Once they hired me, I emailed the creator [Jac Schaeffer] and the producer and I was like, ‘Did you know you hired a witch?’” Zamata tells Marie Claire. “It does feel like a dream. I've been a fan of Marvel for so long, and I was already doing so much research on witches for my own standup and my material. To be able to enter the MCU on a show like this… I couldn't have created a better idea.”
The Saturday Night Live and Home Economics alum plays Jennifer Kale, a centuries-old potions witch, midwife, and root worker who joins Harkness’s makeshift coven to walk the Witches’ Road, alongside other spellcasters played by Aubrey Plaza, Joe Locke, Ali Ahn, and Patti Lupone. Jennifer’s powers are bound (or non-operative) throughout the series, and she has been a loner within the witch community for quite some time. Zamata’s comedy chops, sparkling wit, and spooky sensibilities animate the character so perfectly that it’s hard not to support Jen, even though she’s also facing jail time after her popular beauty products gave hundreds of customers superficial burns.
Speaking over Zoom ahead of Agatha All Along’s finale on October 30, Zamata lights up while reminiscing on the limited series that so greatly aligns with her personal story, from her history with the House of Mouse—previously working as a costumed character at Disney World in the Disney College Program—to her obsession with the history of the occult and her queerness. It’s hard to ignore how this moment in Zamata’s career seems like magic, or "kismet," as she describes it.
Below, Zamata chats with Marie Claire about crafting Jennifer Kale’s “coastal grandma” aesthetic, working with Hahn on the characters’ contentious chemistry, and what new projects she’s manifesting.
MC: I love the mention that Jennifer's an 11th-generation root worker. Was that cultural specificity added when you entered the role, or was that already in the script?
SZ: It was already in the script. They really did want to focus on the different histories of different types of witches. [With] Jen being a potions witch, they wanted to have some nod to root workers, the history of passing down knowledge generation to generation, and also midwifery. I was so glad to be in a role that could display all of that because that's so rich in our history, and you don't see a lot of that stuff mentioned in mainstream content. I'm just glad to be a part of a show that cares about it.
MC: Witches are inherently political and Agatha All Along doesn’t shy from exploring that. How did it feel to be in a project actively exploring those subjects in Hollywood today?
SZ: Amazing. It really is all the things I talk about in my real life anyway, so to be able to create art that talks about that is exciting. I think people are more attuned to listening to that kind of stuff when it's in the framework of entertainment. There's humor and flashiness and action, but also you're learning and absorbing something.
MC: Viewers haven't gotten the full scope of Jennifer's backstory yet. How much of that have you discussed with the writers or thought through yourself?
SZ: We definitely talked about it—like, what was this character's journey from being a healer in her community and someone who people look to for help to literally hurting people and creating products that actually have harmed people? I think the binding had a lot to do with that, and disillusioned her to her work. As time has gone [on], the farther she is from the witch community, the farther she feels from her passion, her magic, and her creation. She became a snake oil salesman, and really didn't care about healing anymore. I think the self-care glean she's been presenting to people is easy for her because she presents as somebody who you should listen to. She does know how to make tinctures and things that people are into these days. But I think ultimately she doesn't care. The internal battle she has to get over is not caring about other people, and getting back to her roots as far as being someone who gets joy and satisfaction from helping the people around her.
MC: Jennifer challenges Agatha the most among the coven members. How did you juggle being pretty antagonistic while keeping with the comedy and lightness of your performance?
SZ: I think what Kathryn [Hahn] and I found with our characters is that they annoyed the hell out of each other, but there was a respect there. It became a very fun energy to play with her, where it's like, we're bickering, we're fighting, but ultimately I don't actually want to kill you. If it was up to me, I would rather not do this journey with you, but I don't hate you so much that I want you to die. It's a fun ebb and flow that you see throughout the series where they are fighting but also helping each other and fighting again and helping each other again. And I think that's a relationship you can develop over time. Both of these witches have been around for a really long time, so who knows what they have seen together, or what they've seen the other person do that made them hate the other person so much. It's a very fun dynamic to play as an actor because Kathryn is also so funny and so good at creating layered characters, so being able to bounce off of her was truly a joy.
MC: You sang a song from the show, “The Ballad of the Witches Road,” alongside the cast, including Patti Lupone, and Disney’s D23 event. Do you have a new level of, "No one can tell me anything?"
SZ: Absolutely, yes. Patti Lupone said I sound good, so I'm set. [laughs] Patti is, obviously, very talented, but also very down to do anything, and had no ego about her. She really wanted us to be an ensemble, and we were. I also have a choir background, so it feels so good when we harmonize and come together. Every time we sing that song, it feels truly magical and special. We didn't have to audition our voices for Agatha All Along. They didn't tell us that we had to sing for the show, but, thankfully, our voices blend so well together. I think that's kind of the magic of the show too, where we don't know if this group can get their shit together, if they can pull together and be a team, but there are glimpses of that. I think the song shows that, yes, we can work together and we can sound harmonious together. We're just getting in our own ways for why we can't do that.
MC: How did you and the Agatha team figure out Jennifer's look?
SZ: That was mostly Daniel Selon, the costume designer. I am assuming he wanted each witch to have their own type of theme. Jen, being a kind of Goop-like self-care guru, has a lighter, coastal grandma vibe, and I love it. There's probably a stereotype of witches as being very dark, having blacks and dark tones all the time. But I like that Agatha All Along is showing the variety of witches and what a witch can look like, what a witch can act like, how they can speak, because there's a whole community, and, of course, there are gonna be varying types of people within that community. I like that Jen's version of a witch is light and prissy and prim and proper and clean. The costumes also help inform the character; the boots that I wear change the way I walk, and the coats change my posture. It really adds to this level of flair that Jen is giving.
I'm so glad that they let me keep my shaved head because I love the look. I do think it fits Jen too, because she [likes] clean lines and no mess. I feel like she wouldn't be bothered or have time to deal with her hair, so she's just like, 'Shave it off. It's useless. Get it outta here.'
MC: I also love the tincture necklace.
SZ: Yeah, I love it too. My little potion bottle. It's funny because even though Jen has felt so removed from the witch community, you can tell she still wants to be a part of it. Why is she holding this potion bottle when she doesn't make potions anymore? I think, knowing that she's going on this adventure, it's a safety blanket. Like, at least I know this. I may not have my magic, but at least I know I have my potions. It ties her to her roots, really.
I like that 'Agatha All Along' is showing the variety of witches and what a witch can look like, what a witch can act like, how they can speak. There's a whole community, and, of course, there are gonna be varying types of people within that community.
MC: Of the different types of witches on Agatha All Along, which one do you feel most drawn toward?
SZ: Maybe divination—being able to see the future or the past, and knowing what's about to happen. Although, I feel like that's a little bit of a curse too, because maybe I know too much or that would influence my behavior.
I also really love the potions aspect of it; being able to use your environment and use nature to heal and create magic is awesome. I'm trying to get in my yard more. I have a bunch of olive trees and I've been picking them for days, and maybe I'll make olive oil. I'm trying to work with my hands more, and it feels very satisfying when you're like, I made a thing. I used the resources from outside and put them inside, and now it's a creation that I can use on my body or in my body. That part feels very satisfying, and it's a thing that anybody can do.
I also like the practical magic that Agatha All Along is showing. It's not just [CGI] hand blasts; it's also things that we're creating with our hands and with our abilities that can be accessible to anybody.
MC: There are a lot of practical effects, too, like the kitchen flood in episode 3.
SZ: We got very wet. The water was real, the fire [in episode 4] was real. It was so cool to see the effects department come up with those things and be like, 'Okay, we need light to come from this area. How do we do that?' They really didn't want to VFX the stuff after the fact. It was really like in person, in front of you, and that really helps the performers with our performance. We get to feel like we're doing that thing or in that environment, because we're looking at it, we're not imagining it. We don't have to be like, 'I guess eventually there will be a thing that looks like that thing later.'
MC: You kind of manifested this role, but is there another topic you're currently fascinated with that you’d like to manifest into a future project?
SZ: That's a good homework assignment for me. I should be manifesting the next thing. I've always loved action. I like big, flashy action things, so that would be a nice manifested journey where I'm doing more of that. There's action in this show and I've done some thriller-y type things, but yeah, I want to blow shit up, and be a badass. That would be very exciting. I would also like to get into directing. I like being able to help tell other people's stories, but I would also love to put my voice out into the world in a different way, too. We'll see how that happens.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
