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Running it back! Hocus Pocus stars Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw and Jason Marsden still have fond memories of their time on the set — but there’s a few things they wish they could try again.
“I feel like when we initially thought we killed the witches off in the incinerator, we were supposed to be ecstatic and excited,” 46-year-old Katz, who played Max Dennison in the 1993 comedy, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month at 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut. “And we were kind of dull, and [director] Kenny [Ortega’s] like, ‘Come on! Bring it to life! You just killed the witches! Get excited, people!’”
Shaw, also 46, chalked up the actors’ perceived dullness to typical adolescent lethargy. “We were just teenagers, just tired all the time,” quipped the California native, who played Allison Watts. “If we seemed energized, it was just Kenny pumping us up.”
Given a chance to do the scene again, Katz said he would “make it grander and bigger.”
For his part, Marsden, 48, wishes he could have redone some of his dialogue. “There was one line when I was recording [like], ‘Hasn’t been around here for years,’” recalled the Full House alum, who voiced Thackery Binx as a cat. “And I feel like I should have gotten a linguist or something, a dialect coach, because I feel like I sounded more Australian than old-world English in that moment. So, yeah, there’s certain elements that I would love to re-record for my own ego and peace of mind.”
Shaw went on to name another scene she’d like to reshoot just for pure fun. “When we bring the witches back — because it was literally the last time anyone has ever done any practical effects,” the Ray Donovan alum told Us. “The actual house moved. The floorboards moved, there was green light coming through, the wind came through, there was the popping of the candles. Basically, you don’t really get that anymore. You get CGI. I really think it should be a ride at Disneyland.”
While the trio is happy to have been part of the beloved Halloween classic, Katz — who’s now retired from acting — doesn’t tune in when the movie plays on a loop every October.
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“Just watching the movie, I’m like, ‘Oh! I don’t want to watch it,’” he said. “I don’t want to watch myself.”
Marsden, meanwhile, is blown away by how popular the movie still is nearly 30 years later. “Going to Spirit Halloween every year, there’s more stuff — Disney parks and more things,” he told Us. “I think I have more fun seeing other people wearing the logos [than watching the movie].”
The trio are still part of a group text with other cast members including Larry Bagby, who played Ernie (a.k.a. Ice). They still haven’t convinced Katz to try acting again, though — and he’s pretty sure they won’t.
“I can’t work with these people!” he joked. “Ridiculous.”
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With reporting by Stephanie Webber
