Call it fate, or magic, but Agatha All Along star Sasheer Zamata was probably always destined for her supernatural role in the hit Marvel series. Out spoke to the actress about the road that led her to her role as Jennifer Kale — from her stand-up special, The First Woman, having an entire running bit about witches, to somehow Agatha All Along creatives not even being aware of it.
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"I was already interested in witches, and witch lore and history, and I was really trying to capture the history of different types of women in my comedy special," Zamata says. "I found a really fun run of themes that all connected to witches. Then, months later, I got asked to audition for this show."
She continues, "I asked the producers later, you know, have they seen my material? They had not. They had seen some material, but they didn't see that material. And I performed some of it before the special was released in front of Mary Livanos, one of the producers; and Jac Schaeffer, the creator of the show."
And yet, no one in the Agatha All Along crew seemed to be familiar with that theme in Zamata's comedy special. "They were like, 'Whoa, we didn't realize how perfect this casting was.'"
(L-R) Patti LuPone and Sasheer Zamata on 'Agatha All Along.'
Disney+/Marvel Television
Agatha All Along broke ground in terms of queer characters on screen — particularly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — and much like the queer community itself, the series has a shared spirituality and a history.
When asked if that may have subconsciously drawn her to the project, Zamata reflects:
"Yeah, I think so. I guess I was just fascinated with the idea of people using the word 'witch' to other people; to push people out of communities. That happened for a very long time, and I like to think of a witch as someone who can't be contained, can't be confined, and is so powerful that it threatens other people's idea of normalcy."
"That is also in the queer community as well," the actress notes. "There's a lot of crossover when it comes to queerness and witchiness. Like, you know, feeling comfortable in your own skin… that makes other people feel uncomfortable, for some reason. So yeah, I like learning about it, embodying it, and representing it. It's cool that we're in a time where people are open to that."
Sasheer Zamata on 'Agatha All Along.'
Disney+/Marvel Television
As for spiriting into the world of the dramatic for the show, it was an exciting endeavor for Zamata to tackle. She explains:
"I mean, honestly, I'm a comedian, as you know. I do feel like I get cast mostly to be the comedic relief for something. That's what I thought was going to happen with this show, but my character actually has a lot of pretty intense moments, and I love that."
"I was challenged as an actor to go outside my comfort zone and try to portray other sides of this character, and I really loved it," she adds. "I want to do more of that. It feels really wonderful to be trusted to portray so many sides of a character."
The cast of 'Agatha All Along.'
Disney+/Marvel Television
Zamata continues, "There was some broom flying that we had to do. I had never been asked to do that in any other situation before. It was really cool: seeing the [visual] effects people figure out how to make us look like we're riding on a broom without strings. We were hoisted on, like, a chair. That was a broom, and then we had to kind of pretend like we're flying. It was just so cool."
When it comes to the catharsis that Jen reached toward the end of Agatha All Along, Zamata reflected:
"This has been such an amazing and wild ride. It's been so fun watching the show along with the fans, and I'm so thrilled that so many people felt connected to our coven and the work we created."
Agatha All Along is streaming on Disney+.
