Kathy Najimy offered to call RuPaul to recommend Kornbread for Drag Race on Hocus Pocus 2 set
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RuPaul's Drag Race season 14 star Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté cast a spell on Kathy Najimy on the set of Hocus Pocus 2.
After EW exclusively confirmed that Kornbread, Ginger Minj, and Kahmora Hall had joined the Disney sequel for a scene that sees the three Drag Race alums playing drag versions of the Sanderson sisters, the season 14 breakout reveals that Najimy was so impressed with her on the set that she offered to personally call RuPaul to recommend her for the show — not knowing that Kornbread had already completed filming on the Emmy-winning reality competition series earlier in 2021.
EW; Everett Collection Kornbread tells a hilarious story about Kathy Najimy trying to get her on 'Drag Race' on 'Hocus Pocus 2' set.
"I'm not going to tell the scene because I don't want to screw anything up, but there's a whole moment where we're there with all the witches, we were taking a little break, so I'm there with Ginger and Kahmora Hall, and they go, 'Yeah, it's so great that we have two people from Drag Race and one local queen,' because no one knew I was on Drag Race yet," Kornbread says in EW's exclusive Awardist roundtable interview above. "No one knew, because literally two weeks after we were released from being in the public eye, that's when I went to go film Hocus Pocus. I wasn't supposed to be there."
She recalls Najimy — who reprises her role as Mary Sanderson opposite Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker in the Anne Fletcher-directed sequel — coming up to her and saying, "One day I hope you're on Drag Race," before suggesting that she make the connection with Mama Ru.
"[She said] 'I know RuPaul personally, I'm the reason Bob [the Drag Queen] got on the show, I'm going to call RuPaul about you,'" Kornbread continues. "I go, 'Kathy, baby, you know what, don't do that. I appreciate you, but don't do that.'" A representative for Najimy confirmed to EW that the actress offered to call RuPaul to suggest Kornbread for a future season of the show.
VH1 (2); Everett Collection (2) 'Drag Race' queens Kornbread (L) and Kahmora Hall (R) join 'Hocus Pocus 2' as drag versions of Sarah Jessica Parker's Sarah Sanderson and Kathy Najimy's Mary Sanderson.
Though the original actresses behind the Sanderson sisters returned for the film, EW confirmed that Hocus Pocus star Thora Birch would not reprise her role of Dani — one of three youths who inadvertently resurrected the evil witches on Halloween night in the 1993 classic — in the upcoming continuation. A source told EW that Disney wanted Birch back for "a good supporting role" as a grown-up Dani helping three new teens (played by Gossip Girl's Whitney Peak, Dirt's Lilia Buckingham, and American Horror Stories' Belissa Escobedo) evade the central sorceresses once again, but her obligations to Netflix's Addams Family-inspired series Wednesday (which she later exited) prevented her from filming.
Hocus Pocus 2 debuts Sept. 30 on the Disney+ streaming service. Watch a portion of EW's Awardist interview with Kornbread and her season 14 cast members above.
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