The Truth About How Agatha Was Cast In WandaVision - Exclusive
One of the most celebrated, and certainly the most memeified, performances from WandaVision was Kathryn Hahn's turn as Agatha Harkness. Whether it was Hahn's seamless adaptation to any sitcom genre she was thrown in, her finally giving Scarlet Witch a formal hero name, or just the iTunes chart topping smash hit "Agatha All Along," both the Marvel witch — and Hahn herself — have taken on higher stock than ever in the superpowered world.
Looper interviewed Hahn at the start of the season, where she kept quiet despite us guessing (correctly) about her being Agatha all along. She raved about being part of the cast: "Had I known that I would be in the MCU in live-action in any capacity, that is still blowing my mind... that my entrance into it would have been into a 1950s sitcom is still like, what? I still am tickled by the whole thing, for sure."
We spoke with several WandaVision creatives after the series finished airing on Disney+ to get some new perspectives, now that spoiler embargos no longer exist. One such creative was producer Mary Livanos, who talked to us about how Hahn was cast in the first place.
Casting Kathryn Han was "a magical opportunity"
Everyone we spoke with had great affection for Hahn. Livanos went into detail about the casting: "Kathryn Hahn is incredible. She came in to meet with us at Marvel while we were looking for the Agatha role. And we were banging our heads against the wall, trying to figure out who could be perfect for that. And like the angel she is, Kathryn Hahn fell in our laps and she was just perfect for it."
It's easy to say she left an impression, but "impression" implies a landing — whereas in this case, she just walked right into the role. "I think it was like the quickest turnaround from regular Marvel meeting into casting as our main villain."
A strong statement, given that the MCU once cast Mickey Rourke as a villain, in what couldn't have been all that long of a meeting. Nonetheless, Livanos said that, "[Casting Hahn] was an insanely quick turnaround and a magical opportunity, if you will."