Sasheer Zamata on “Agatha All Along” and coming out

(This story contains spoilers from the third episode of Agatha all the time“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 Disney+’s rebooted superhero dark comedy Agatha all the time.

“I think I’m ready,” Zamata said The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the series debut on September 18th. “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 diving into the magical side of Marvel and that’s really exciting and fun .”

The WandaVision In the spin-off, Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha disingenuously attempts to reassemble a reluctant coven of witches in order to regain their supernatural powers. Among them is Zamata’s character, a potions witch who runs a kind of organic skin care pharmacy when she’s not dabbling in the occult. In episode three, “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials”, Jennifer saves the day – and almost every character’s life – when she conjures up an antidote after discovering that a bottle of wine they drank caused them to They stopped at an uninhabited house on Hexenstrasse.

Like her previous roles in Housekeeping, Woke up And Last floorIn which Zamata, who recently came out as a “late lesbian,” was cast as a queer woman before publicly revealing her sexual identity, the opportunity to portray Jen arose just as the actress and comedian was grappling with the history of witches for her latest standup special The first woman. “It’s like the Venn diagram of all my interests on this show forms a perfect circle,” Zamata says.

Below, the Marvel star talks about her experience filming Agatha all the timefrom the singing scenes to wearing prosthetics to the reaction to her coming out.

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How did this role come about?

I’ve already studied witches for my stand-up – and I’m very interested in witchcraft history and witch history, but that was completely separate. I was asked to audition after I had already filmed my special. I like everything that happens in the series: the magic, the witches, the wonderfulness of it all. It’s like the Venn diagram of all my interests on this show forms a perfect circle. So I was hoping, and then I actually got cast, and I remember emailing the producers and saying, “Did you know you hired a witch?” Could you tell?” And maybe could she it, maybe it’s a vibe that I give off that I wasn’t aware of. But I’m so glad they saw what they saw and decided to add me to the team.

Do you have a favorite witch series?

I like Sabrina, the teenage witch. It is very funny and funny. Large Practical magic Fan, fan of The craft. I loved American Horror Story: Coven. We’ve had some really great witches in the media. I’m glad this show contributes to that.

Have you ever been a superhero fantasy fan? Did you watch? WandaVision before you get cast?

I did that. I’m a big fan of Marvel and I watched it too WandaVision. When I found out they were doing a spin-off based on witches, I remember telling my reps, “I need to be seen for this as is.” WandaVision People.” The creator, Jac Schaeffer, is so smart and I really think she’s creating a very different tone for Marvel; we’re able to do so many other things that you’ve never seen before. I am a big fan of all the action and they’ve taken a lot of creative freedom with these characters. I’m excited for people to see how much emotion and depth we can really achieve with these characters.

Who is Jennifer Kale in your words?

Jennifer Kale is a witch who is very reserved and has to learn to trust people, and this is tested again and again throughout the series. She is a potions witch. She uses alchemy and chemistry and her surroundings to create magic, and I hope she can inspire people to use the resources of their lives to create their own magic and see a little of themselves in my character.

We are used to seeing you in simpler comedies and sitcoms. This is more of a dark comedy. Did you feel like you were able to demonstrate some skills that we may not have seen before?

Absolutely. I really love doing comedy, but it was so nice to be asked to do more and do things that I haven’t had to do in any other production. There are some really dramatic, raw elements to this show, and I was able to flex my muscles a little and push my boundaries. I’m excited for people to see me do something different than what I’ve done before.

There are several singing scenes in this series. Do you all really sing?

We really sing, yes, and it’s funny that we weren’t asked if we could sing before the show started. So that wasn’t even a requirement. But luckily we all can. Everyone has a theater background. So everything worked. And I love singing. When I was younger I sang in the church choir and in show choirs and musicals. I’m really glad that I’m being asked to bring this side of myself back. 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 just feels so fun and unifying and I feel like we’re really conjuring something.

I think you had already cut your hair before the cast. Was your character’s look always like this, or were there discussions about wigs and hair extensions?

There were conversations about wigs and extensions. And I think when the costume designer saw me in person he said, I think this is good the way it is. This is Jen. I like to wear wigs and extensions; that’s fun too. And even in this show, I’m going to have so many different looks that look different than my shaved head. But I love looking like this. I love this version of myself – and it’s so easy to quickly shave my head and that’s all we do. But I think it’s nice for Jen to have a shaved head because her personality is very clean. Clean lines, simplicity, order and I think a shaved head contributes to this. That’s her personality.

In the third episode, the circle comes under a spell that causes everyone’s faces to swell. What was the experience of seeing this transformation in the makeup chair?

I’ve done a few prosthetics for certain things, but this is the first time I’ve had a full face with prosthetics. It was wild. And wild to look at everyone with their faces. We had a lot of moments where we were just laughing because we were like, “You look ridiculous and I look ridiculous and this is crazy.” And it was really funny but also really cool, lines with huge lips and pulling noses all over our faces. The FX department is so talented. They planned everyone’s appearance well in advance and then had to be on hand to make sure we were hydrated and moist enough for the rest of the day. It’s been quite a journey.

Was there a lot of green screen used during filming and did that take some getting used to?

We actually had very little green screen on this show. They really paid attention to making everything practical. So what you see is what happens. If there is water, it is actually water. When there is fire, there is indeed fire. They built the road set and it really feels like we’re walking through a forest. And it’s so cool. They use all these old school Hollywood techniques to play with perspective and depth and it was really cool to watch. And you can tell that the set designers had so much fun on this show and the effects, the people had so much fun on this show because everyone was able to use the tools that they’ve known for years and put them to use on a show like this could bring. I think there are so many productions that just do that in post-production, they just put up a screen (and say), “We’re going to fix it in post-production and make this thing completely artificial,” and I think that it It makes sense to use the artists’ hands for this. There are really talented people who know how to create physical things that we can touch, use and walk through, and I’m so grateful to be on a show like this because it really elevates our performance too.

Several years have passed since your 2017 story Lurewhere you discussed your experiences with colorism and feeling stigmatized in Hollywood because of your skin tone. Have you noticed any improvements in the roles you are being offered now?

I think the diversity of people in front of and behind the camera is improving because I feel like audiences also crave what’s beautiful and they’re very vocal about it. Viewership equals money and studios will listen wherever the money is. I am so grateful that we are moving in this direction. And I hope it stays that way, because I enjoy working.

In your current profile in Themhave you talked about how you hope people respect your boundaries around your sexual identity. What has been the reaction to your coming out since the story was published?

It was so beautiful. It was so loving and welcoming. I feel really lucky and feel like this article has been so supportive and careful with me and my words. I’m just really grateful. It couldn’t have happened better. I’ve gotten some really funny answers from people asking, “Was she there?” (laughs) For example: “The door to this closet was made of glass. What are you talking about?” And they’re not wrong.

Agatha all the time releases new episodes Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on Disney+.