Evan Rachel Wood, who appeared with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in 1998’s Practical Magic, says she won’t be returning for Practical Magic 2 nearly three decades later because, as she put it herself, nobody from the original film ever contacted her about the sequel. A lot of people assumed Evan Rachel Wood had passed on it, but what actually happened is one of those head-scratching Hollywood decisions nobody can really make sense of.
Evan Rachel Nope
According to Evan Rachel Wood, nobody from the first film reached out while the sequel was coming together, and they ended up replacing her with Joey King, who’s ten years younger. As it turns out, Joey King was the only one who called her: “I truly appreciate her reaching out to me because no one who worked on the first movie did. She’s a sweetheart.” Nicole Kidman may want to get that stab wound checked.
Director Susanne Bier has already said the switch wasn’t driven by bad blood. Quite the opposite: “It wasn’t personal. The kids in the story have just graduated from college, so it wasn’t even really a question. We had to recast.”It’s not like Evan Rachel Wood is hurting for work, but she’s been open about how much she would’ve loved going back to the set where she’d been so happy as a kid.
Think this sounds like some petty Hollywood feud? Not really. Evan Rachel Wood wanted in more than anything, and even said she was willing to do whatever they needed, “even if it was one scene or one line.” Hard not to think that, after all this, nobody’s going to be calling her for Practical Magic 3.
