Practical Magic Hired a Witch Consultant, and Then She Put a 'Chilling' Curse on the Film

The only thing more ironic than making a movie about curses and witches is accidentally ending up cursed yourself!

Before Practical Magic became a cozy, pop-culture favorite, cherished for its sisterhood, whimsical goth aesthetics and midnight margaritas, the 1998 romantic film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, too, had a curse of its own.

In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2023, the film’s director Griffin Dunne admitted to hiring a witch consultant “to get the details of the ceremony,” as a way to make the rituals in the movie feel more authentic. 

On paper, it was a smart choice as the studio wanted something realistic, not rumors of the supernatural. But what started as an honest hire soon turned into the film’s eeriest subplot.

“We got along great; she was very, very helpful,” Dunne explained. “She was paid very handsomely by Warner Brothers for her consulting. I thought it would be fun to bring her out to Los Angeles, put her in a nice hotel and meet Sandy and Nicole, who were dying to meet her."

However, when producers reached out, their gesture backfired. The witch had been offended by the offer, reportedly demanding a share of the film’s profits — “three gross points,” as noted by Dunne — as well as the rights to publish a Practical Magic cookbook.

“You can’t buy me off with a hotel,” the witch told them, per Dunne, before leaving what the director described as “a curse in some sort of tongue” on his voicemail, threatening to sue the studio.

“It was quite chilling, actually,” Dunne said. “So I took the little mini-cassette recording and gave it to the legal department. They didn’t get halfway through it before they said, ‘F–-- this,’ and wrote her a check.” 

When asked if the curse seemed to have any effect on set, Dunne laughed it off but told Vanity Fair he’d done his best to keep the situation contained, aware that once the story spread, everyone would run with it.

Whispers still circulated, but before the filming began, a crew member’s elderly father suddenly died, which is when some began to wonder if the witch’s words had found their mark.

“It was very, very sad,” Dunne said, adding, “But everyone went, ‘Oh my God, that’s the witch — the witch killed the guy’s father,’ which is just exactly the conversation I did not want to have on my set.”

He tried to quiet the talk as much as possible, though Bullock and Kidman had reportedly “talked about it endlessly,” fascinated by the situation and couldn’t resist bringing it up.

“We went ahead and got the movie made, but it was just one of those little adventures that happen along the way,” Dunne said. “It happens on most movies.”

Dunne admitted he “didn’t want to give the curse any strength” by denying it outright. Still, the energy lingered.

He described the days spent filming the exorcism scene — where the coven of women gathered to help Gillian overcome the deadly spirit of Jimmy Angelov — as “electric” with a “heightened atmosphere.”

Related Stories

What Practical Magic Gets Right and Wrong About Practical Magic

The Cast of 'Practical Magic': Where Are They Now?

“When you go into that world of exorcism, and that took days to shoot — the chanting and the energy — you do feel like you’re conjuring something,” Dunne said.

“Nicole going into convulsions was just so intense — I did feel like we were traveling into uncharted territory.”