The actor was getting ready to audition for a part in a film. The spell may not have worked that time, but Williams will soon try her own hand at witchcraft on screen in Practical Magic 2. The sequel to the beloved 1998 romcom, about two supernatural sisters played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, it features Williams as Antonia, the youngest daughter of Bullock’s Sally Owens.
She never did get her money back from her Etsy witch. Which is not going to break the bank, but good for her. Good for her, to be making money doing nothing!” Williams laughs again.
We meet on a sweltering afternoon at a posh pub in Belgravia in London where women in expensive-looking sundresses are drinking Aperol spritzes on the terrace. Williams arrives from a busy day of appointments. She removes a pair of oversized grey headphones and sets them down on the table (she was listening to the US singer-songwriter Slayyyter on the walk over).
The pair were catching up and discussing Murray’s recent memoir, The Make-Believe, about her devastating experience with a wellness cult. The group promised spiritual healing through expensive, elaborate rituals; Murray experienced a psychotic episode and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But after reading Murray’s book, Williams decided that searching for symbols in daily life might not be so wholesome after all.
I remember first seeing her in Carol Morley’s The Falling, in which she stood out as a prickly, stiff‑backed schoolgirl opposite a then unknown Florence Pugh. In the seven years since Game of Thrones ended, Williams has landed roles in Marvel spin-off The New Mutants, in Danny Boyle’s miniseries Pistol as punk icon Jordan, and in Apple TV’s The New Look, a glossy drama about Christian Dior and Coco Chanel in Nazi-occupied Paris. She has started her own production company, and co-hosts the Frank Film Club podcast with two of her friends.
It has been a period of trying different things, of searching for light relief, after a long stretch dealing with some much darker stuff. Last year, she even got a new agent. One of those fun, unexpected things was Practical Magic 2.
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