[This story contains spoilers from the third episode of Agatha All Along, “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials.”]
Former Saturday night live star Sasheer Zamata has entered a new realm of fandom with her role as Jennifer Kale in the dark superhero comedy that just launched on Disney+ Agata always.
“I think I'm ready,” Zamata said The Hollywood journalist ahead of the series debut on September 18. “I guess I won't know until it happens, but I'm excited because I think Marvel fans are going to love it. We're really getting into the magical side of Marvel and that's really exciting and fun.
THE WandaVision the spin-off sees Agatha played by Kathryn Hahn disingenuously bring together a reluctant coven to regain her supernatural powers. Among these is the character of Zamata, a potions witch who runs a sort of organic skincare pharmacy when she's not dabbling in the occult. In episode three, “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials”, Jennifer saves the day – and nearly all of the characters' lives – when she conjures an antidote after realizing they have been poisoned by a bottle of wine they drank when they stopped at an empty house along the Witches' Road.
Like his previous roles in Home economics, I woke up AND The latest OGin which Zamata, who recently came out as a “late-life lesbian,” was cast as a queer woman before publicly sharing her sexual identity, the opportunity to play Jen came just as the actress and comedian was exploring the story of witches for his latest standup special The first woman. “It's like the Venn diagram of all my interests forms a perfect circle in this show,” Zamata says.
Below, the Marvel star talks about her experience filming Agata alwaysfrom the singing scenes to the use of prosthetics and the response to her coming out.
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How did this role come to you?
I was already researching witches for my stand-up – and I really like the lore and history of witches, but it was totally separate. I was asked to audition after I had already filmed my special. I like all the things that happen on the show: the magic, the witches, the wonder of it all. It's like the Venn diagram of all my interests is a perfect circle with this show. So I was hoping, and then I got cast, and I remember emailing the producers and saying, “Did you know you hired a witch? Could you say that?” And maybe they could, maybe it's a feeling I'm giving off that I didn't realize. But I'm so happy that they saw what they saw and decided to let me join the team.
Do you have a favorite witch series?
I like Sabrina the teenage witch. It's very fun and entertaining. Great Practical magic fan, fan of The profession. I loved it American Horror Story: Coven. We've had some really great witches in the media. I'm happy that this show is adding to it.
Were you already a fan of superhero fantasy? Have you looked? WandaVision before being chosen?
I did it. I'm a huge fan of all things Marvel and I've been watching it WandaVision. When I found out they were making a spin-off based on witches, I remember telling my reps, “I need to be seen for this, as if this were the movie.” WandaVision people.” The creator, Jac Schaeffer, is so smart and I really think she's creating a completely different tone for Marvel; we're able to do so many more things that you've never seen before. I'm a fan of all the action and they took a lot of creative license with these characters. I'm excited for people to see the amount of emotion and depth we can really achieve with these characters.
Who is Jennifer Kale in your opinion?
Jennifer Kale is a very cautious witch and needs to learn to trust people, and she continues to be tested over and over throughout the show. She's a potions witch. He uses alchemy, chemistry and his environment to create magic, and I hope this can inspire people to use the resources in their lives to create their own magic and see a little bit of themselves in my character.
We're used to seeing you in simpler comedies and sitcoms. This is more of a dark comedy. Did you feel like you had to showcase some skills that maybe we haven't seen before?
Absolutely. I love doing comedy so much, but it was so nice to be asked to do more and to be asked to do things that I've never been asked to do in any other production. There are some gritty and really dramatic elements to this show, and I had to flex my muscles a little and stretch my limits. I'm excited for people to see me do something different than what I've done before.
There are more singing scenes in this series. Do you all really sing?
We're really singing, yes, and it's funny that we weren't asked if we could sing before we started the show. As if that wasn't even a requirement. But, luckily, we all can. They all have a theater background. So it all worked. And I love singing. When I was younger I sang in my church choir, and in choral shows and musicals. I'm really happy to be asked to bring out that side of me again. We sang live at D23 in front of 12,000 people at the Honda Center, and it was really crazy. But when we do it as a group and harmonize, it feels so fun and unifying, and I feel like we're really conjuring something.
I think you had already cut your hair before you were cast. Was that always going to be your character's look, or were we talking about wigs and extensions?
We were talking about wigs and extensions. And I think when the costume designer saw me in person, he thought, I think it's fine the way it is. I mean, this is Jen. I'm happy to wear wigs and extensions; that's fun too. And also in this show I will have so many different looks from my shaved head. But I love looking like this. I love this version of me – and it's so easy to quickly shave my head and that's all we're doing. But I think it's cute for Jen to have her head shaved because her character is very clean. Clean lines, simplicity, order and I think the shaved head adds to that. This is his personality.
In episode three, there's a spell the coven is under that makes everyone's faces swell. What was the experience of undergoing that transformation in the makeup chair?
I've made some prosthetic stuff for a few things, but this is the first time I've had a full prosthetic face. It was wild. And wild in looking everyone in the face. We had many moments where we would burst out laughing because we would say, “you look ridiculous and I look ridiculous, and this is crazy.” And providing lines with huge lips and noses on all of our faces was really fun, but also really cool. The FX department is so talented. They planned everyone's look in advance and then had to stand by and make sure we were hydrated and moist enough for the rest of the day. It was a nice trip.
Was there a lot of green screen used during filming and did it take some getting used to?
We actually had minimal greenscreen on this show. They really cared about making everything practical. So what you see is what's happening. When there is water, it is actually water. When there is fire, there really is fire. They built the road set and it really feels like you're walking through a forest. And it's so beautiful. They use all these old school Hollywood techniques to play with perspective and depth, and it was really beautiful to watch. And you can tell that the production designers had so much fun making this show and the effects people had so much fun making this show because everyone got to use the tools they've known for years and use them in a show like This. I think there are so many productions that just do it in post, they just hold up a screen [and say] “we'll fix this in post-production and create this thing in a totally artificial way”, and I think it's useful to use the artists available. There are really talented people who know how to create physical things to touch and use and walk through and I'm so grateful to be on a show like that because it really enhances our performance too.
It's been several years since your 2017 story Charmin which you talked about your experience with colorism and feeling stigmatized for your skin tone in Hollywood. Have you noticed improvements in the roles you are offered now?
I think there's an improvement in the diversity of people in front of and behind the camera, because I feel like audiences want that too, which is so nice, and they talk about it very openly. Audiences equal money and studios listen wherever the money is. I'm so grateful that we're trending in that direction. And I hope it continues to go like this also because I like working.
In your recent profile in Theyyou've talked about hoping that people will respect the boundaries you set regarding your sexual identity. What has the response been to your coming out since the story was published?
It was so beautiful. He was so loving and welcoming. I feel really happy and I feel that article was very supportive and attentive to me and my words. I'm really grateful. It couldn't have happened in a better way. I got some really funny responses from people saying, “Was this here?” (laughs) Like, “This closet door was glass. What are you talking about?” And they're not wrong.
Agata always releases new episodes Wednesdays at 9pm ET / 6pm PT on Disney+.