The "Hocus Pocus" cast ignited their own Black Flame candle and brought their characters back to life at 90s Con on Oct. 18.
Director Kenny Ortega, who admitted he hasn't reunited with the cast in more than 20 years, said they considered Leonardo DiCaprio for the starring role of Max Dennison, the Halloween skeptic who accidentally resurrects the trio of witches. Sitting beside the film's protagonist, Ortega said the role went to Omri Katz because "this young man delivered an amazing performance."
"I did not know I was competing against Leonardo," Katz said. "However, him and I used to go out on a lot of auditions together, and we were always competitors."
Katz, who recalled hearing crickets from the casting team before being hired for the role,
called beating "The Wolf of Wall Street" star his "one out of 1000."
Costars Jason Marsden, Vinessa Shaw, Thora Birch, Tobias Jelinek and Larry Bagby were also featured in the Hartford, Connecticut, convention and reflected on the film's staying power as a Halloween staple. Although the reunion took place without the Sanderson sisters – Bette Midler's Winifred, Sarah Jessica Parker's Sarah and Kathy Najimy's Mary – audiences felt their supernatural presence as cast members praised the leading ladies.
Shaw, who played Max's crush Allison, said she was initially intimidated by Parker, Midler and Najimy and called it a "trifecta of intensity." Shaw said she shared a makeup artist with the "Sex and the City" star and that Parker offered advice on navigating her acting career as a child star.
Birch celebrated the Salem witches' musicality and physical performance, while Katz praised their work ethic and discipline.
Despite their joint star power, Ortega said Birch – who played Max's youngest sister, Dani – thinks her timing, rhythm and performances made her an immediate scene stealer.
"Imagine you've got Bette Midler, who just got nominated for an Oscar for the first movie that she ever made called 'The Rose'; Kathy Najimy, who was being considered probably the great lady of physical comedy walking through Hollywood at the time; and Sarah Jessica Parker, already a major star," said Ortega, who also directed "The High School" musical franchise. "These women knew better. They knew [to] follow her."
Shaw, who played Domino in Stanley Kubrick's psychosexual thriller "Eyes Wide Shut," reflected on what it was like to star in it. "Eyes Wide Shut" marked Kubrick's final film, before his death at age 70 in 1999, and Shaw thanked the late filmmaker for offering an acting training ground and permitting the young star to do "a million takes."
"He pulled me aside and said, 'You're really good,'" Shaw said. "That was his kind of message to me before he left this planet, just to give me confidence and to continue, and that's forever something I'll treasure."
The cult classic, which followed the Sanderson sisters as they cast spells and bewitch children in their centuries-old fortress, flopped at the box office in 1993. Cast and crew members have theorized that a July release date and no premiere contributed to low numbers.
The project became a sleeper hit as ABC Family (now Freeform) and Disney Channel began airing the film in the '90s. Following its 2002 DVD release, sales trended upward in 2008.
Although the Sanderson sisters reunited for the 2022 sequel, "Hocus Pocus 2," original cast members Shaw, Birch, Marsden and Katz did not receive an invite. During 2023's 90s Con panel, Marsden said "Hocus Pocus 2" cowriter David Kirschner fought for him and other original cast members, but a "committee" was left to make the final decisions.
Regarding "Hocus Pocus 3," an industry insider told USA TODAY in 2023 that the third installment was in early development. In 2025, Parker teased that they had begun discussions with Midler, adding that the script was "brilliant."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hocus Pocus' cast reunites as director shares Leonardo DiCaprio casting secret
