20 Photos Of The Hocus Pocus Cast Then & Now

Sarah Jessica Parker hadn’t become a household name from Sex and the City yet when Hocus Pocus premiered in 1993. She plays the youngest of the three witch sisters, also named Sarah.

For the sequel’s premiere, she walked the red carpet with daughters Marion and Tabitha. Parker said “it was like muscle memory” to step back into the role.

Bette Midler was already a music and theatre icon when she transformed into Winifred.

Midler told CBS News that the three main actors have been willing to step back into these roles for quite some time, but was “just waiting to see what the script was.”

Kathy Najimy was fresh off of her role in Sister Act when she appeared as Mary Sanderson in the first Hocus Pocus film.

For Najimy, the feelings “just came back” when putting on the costumes and seeing Parker and Midler. At the premiere she arrived with her husband, musician Dan Finnerty.

Doug Jones starred as the undead Billy Butcherson. He is primarily a contortionist and mime actor who often plays non-human creature roles.

Jones reprises his role in Hocus Pocus 2 and told People that working with Midler in the original film was a highlight for him. “I had been a fan of hers...to see her face-to-face, I was just a slobbering fanboy.”

Omri Katz, who was in the 1993 movie as the teen heartthrob, hasn’t acted much since his days in Hocus Pocus and on the television series Dallas. Which, sadly, includes Hocus Pocus 2.

"People have been asking, and unfortunately, I'm not in it,” Katz said about Hocus Pocus 2 in a statement from his rep. “I would have loved to be involved. I feel bad for the original fan base saying we aren't because I'm sure they wanted to see us reprise our roles."

Vinessa Shaw, pictured here in 1999, was Allison in the OG Hocus Pocus movie.

She did not reprise her role in the 2022 sequel, which director Anne Fletcher confirmed. She said “it was difficult” to fit the original teens back into the movie.

You’ll probably recognize Tony Hale as Buster Bluth from Arrested Development and Gary Walsh in Veep. He was one of the new castmembers to join the Hocus Pocus universe.

Hale has a double role in the new film: Jefry Traske, the Mayor of Salem, as well as Reverend Traske who was alive during the Sanderson sisters’ lifetime.

Sam Richardson, who also joined the cast for the Disney sequel, was a mainstay on HBO’s Veep and has also starred in comedies like Detroiters, The After Party, and Ted Lasso.

In Hocus Pocus 2, Richardson’s character Gilbert owns the Olde Salem Magic Shoppe, which happens to be the site of the Sanderson Sisters’ former home.

The film’s young stars Lilia Buckingham and Belissa Escobedo weren’t alive when the first film came out, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t excited to be part of the legendary sequel.

Hocus Pocus has been part of Escobedo’s Halloween tradition for as long as she can remember. “It’s unreal when people ask me [about starring in it],” she told Elite Daily.

Buckingham said, “It's one of those things that I can't even accept is real. It's such an iconic movie—like, there's no way I'm not in a dream.”