Prepare those midnight margaritas! As the much-anticipated sequel to the 1990s cult classic Practical Magic arrives, we speak to Danish director Susanne Bier about bringing the Owens sisters back to the screen, and recreating the spellbinding world of the original
Few films have inspired a following quite like Practical Magic. Released in 1998, the film starred Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as sisters battling a family curse through magic. Now, 28 years later, Practical Magic 2 is finally here – thanks to the directorial craft of multi-award winning, Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier.
“When you bring the two of them together, it's so dynamic”, Susanne Bier tells me over zoom, the day after Practical Magic 2’s global premiere in London. The “two” in question just happen to be a pair of Hollywood’s biggest names: Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. The global superstars reprise their roles as sisters Gillian and Sally Owens in the film, leading a cast that includes Joey King and Maisie Williams making their debuts as Sally’s daughters, Kylie and Antonia. Screen legends Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest also return, rounding out the stellar ensemble as aunts Frances and Bridget 'Jet' Owens.
For Bier, however, the magical world was new territory: “I hadn’t seen the first one,” she admits, but once she did, she quickly understood its appeal. “I really felt, I get it”, she says, explaining how the first film “was about two young women making so much mess out of their lives, and the aunts telling them to deal with their own mess". For her, the sequel offered the chance to shift the story to a mess created by the next generation.