Hocus Pocus actor Sean Murray has revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio was originally expected to star in the 1993 Halloween classic.
Murray, 47, best known for his longtime portrayal of Special Agent Timothy McGee on the crime procedural NCIS, starred in the family comedy as Thackery Binx.
Directed by Kenny Ortega, the original film starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the three Sanderson Sisters, a trio of witches accidentally resurrected on Halloween night by teenager Max Dennison, played by former child actor Omri Katz.
Katz, then 16, almost didn’t land the role of Max, as DiCaprio was originally expected to play the part, Murray revealed on Tuesday’s episode of The Patrick Labyorteaux podcast.
DiCaprio ended up turning down the job in favor of 1993’s comedy-drama What's Eating Gilbert Grape, for which he would go on to earn his first Oscar nomination. He was 19 when he starred in the movie opposite Johnny Depp.
Murray said that at the time, he didn’t understand why his This Boy’s Life co-star would choose a “strange indie film” over a “big Disney movie.”
When Hocus Pocus first premiered in theaters in 1993, it was a box office flop, grossing only $48.7 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
It has since become an enduring Halloween cult classic. “It’s way more popular now than it was when we made the movie,” Murray acknowledged. “It’s wild.”
He added: “Hocus Pocus just kind of fizzled out pretty quick. But, I got to give it up to Disney and the machine that they are because ... through rentals, through VHS ... it became a thing that people were watching and got into.
The night the film debuted in theaters, Murray remembered “going to a theater somewhere in Universal City and like hiding in the back of the theater and watching it.”
He said watching himself on-screen “terrified” him. “And I remember, I didn't know what a panic attack was until that evening,” he continued. “I’ve never been more terrified in my life.”
In the film, Murray’s character Thackery falls victim to the Sanderson Sisters, who end up casting a spell on him and turning him into an immortal cat. The cat version of Thackery was voiced by Jason Marsden.
To this day, the memory still sticks with Murray. “Maybe that was so traumatizing that that’s why I don’t watch myself typically,” he said. “Because I remember watching myself on a giant screen and going, ‘Oh my god, I can’t handle this. I can’t handle this.’”
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