'Agatha All Along' became a reality because of Kathryn Hahn says creator Jac Schaeffer

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) "Agatha All Along" became a possibility because of Hollywood star Kathryn Hahn, who made the character of Agatha Harkness iconic with her portrayal in Marvel Studios' "WandaVision", says creator Jac Schaeffer.
    The series, streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from Wednesday, is a spin-off to "WandaVision", in which Hahn was introduced as Agnes, a nosy neighbour who is later revealed to be Agatha Harkness, an all-powerful witch.
    Hahn's standout performance in the 2021 show, especially in the song "Agatha All Along", turned Agatha into a fan favorite and sparked the demand for a standalone story.
    "There is no Agatha without Kathryn Hahn. She became a sensation. With the song and her portrayal of Agatha, she was iconic. She made it so big, nuanced and special that, of course, a show about Agatha became possible because of her," Schaeffer, who also created "WandaVision", told PTI in a virtual interview.
    "Agatha All Along" is set after the events of "WandaVision", which saw Agatha Harkness being defeated by Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff, who overpowers Agatha and casts a spell that traps her in the role of her false persona "Agnes".
    The spin-off series sees Agatha Harkness getting out of the spell by a teenager but finds herself without any powers.
    "Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’
Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…" the official logline read.
    According to Schaeffer, "Agatha All Along" will explore a key question about the character -- "What is Agatha's truth?"
    "The very earliest work was 'Who is Agatha? And to me, Agatha is a liar. Agatha is always performing and so the idea of doing a show about her, the question for me became 'When is she not performing?' 'When is she telling the truth?'
    "And that little kernel was so provocative to me that we built a lot around that. And that really shaped the journey of the show."
    While "WandaVision" paid homage to the classic American sitcoms, from the early 1950s to the 2010s, Schaeffer said the new show has plenty of references to historical witch characters, seen in many movies and shows over the years.
    "In 'WandaVision', it was the history of sitcoms, and in this show, we cast a much wider net than that. It's really more sort of witches throughout pop culture and history, and the different sort of cinematic and TV styles associated with that. So, that's the spectacle you can expect with this show. And of course, with music on top of it," she added.
    When someone thinks of a Marvel project, what comes to the mind is the big action sequences and a lot of CGI, but this is not how Schaeffer approaches her work.
    "For me and with this show, the spectacle is really about the sort of genre bending. The wardrobe, the hair and the makeup, that kind of theatricality as spectacle and crafting a narrative where we can play in different sorts of pop culture illusions," she added.
    Like its predecessor "WandaVision", "Agatha All Along" also tries to strike a balance between "comedy and drama", she said.
    Schaeffer, who has also co-directed the series, said fans should expect moments of broad comedy, fun as well as "performative moments, and moments that are heartfelt and heartbreaking".
    "I get that question quite a bit, how do you do that? It's how I like to tell stories. And it's very instinctive. I'm a methodical person, but that is one area where it really is about my gut... It's a very intuitive thing," she added.
    The creator further said she had a conversation with Hahn early on with regard to her performance in this show and she explained how she wanted to capture different levels of the character.
    "(Just) so that in the edit we would have the opportunity to kind of spin the dials. And she was very willing in that way. She can go so big and she loves to go big but when we need to shrink it, she's right there," Schaeffer said.
    "Agatha All Along" also features Aubrey Plaza, Patti LuPone, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, Paul Adelstein, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Okwui Okpokwasili and Debra Jo Rupp.
    The show is executive produced by Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Mary Livanos and Schaeffer.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)