'The Witches': Meet Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci and rest of the cast of the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's book
Who are witches? Are they evil people with pointy hats? Are they cooking up a way to get rid of all the children in the world? Reimagining Roald Dahl’s beloved story for a modern audience, Robert Zemeckis comes up with a visually innovative film to tell the darkly humorous and heartwarming tale of a young orphaned boy (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) who, in late 1967, goes to live with his loving Grandma (Octavia Spencer) in the rural Alabama town of Demopolis.
As the boy and his grandmother encounter some deceptively glamorous but thoroughly diabolical witches, she wisely whisks our young hero away to an opulent seaside resort. Regrettably, they arrive at precisely the same time that the world’s Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway) has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe — undercover — to carry out her nefarious plans.
Based on the book by Dahl, the screenplay is by Robert Zemeckis and 'Black-ish' fame Kenya Barris and Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, popular for 'The Shape of Water'. Zemeckis’s behind-the-scenes team includes a roster of his frequent collaborators including Oscar-nominated director of photography Don Burgess, production designer Gary Freeman, editors Jeremiah O’Driscoll and Ryan Chan, Oscar-nominated costume designer Joanna Johnston, and Oscar-nominated composer Alan Silvestri.
Catch a glimpse of the cast of the movie below.
Anne Hathaway as The Grand High Witch
Anne Hathaway plays the role of Lilith aka The Grand High Witch, a powerful witch who is the leader of the witches. One of the highest-paid actresses in 2015, she has won an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe.
Born on November 12, 1982, the actress who became popular with films like 'Bride Wars' (2009), 'Valentine's Day' (2010), 'Love & Other Drugs' (2010), and the fantasy film 'Alice in Wonderland' (2010) soon went on to play Selina Kyle in her highest-grossing film 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The same year, she also won the Academy Award for her role as Fantine in the musical drama 'Les Misérables'. She was also seen in 'Interstellar' (2014), 'The Intern' (2015), and 'Ocean's 8' (2018).
Octavia Spencer as Agatha Hansen
Octavia Spencer plays the role of Agatha Hansen, Charlie's grandmother who is an old enemy of the Grand High Witch. The actress who has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards is known for films such as 'A Time To Kill' (1996), 'The Divergent Series' (2015–16), 'Gifted' (2017), 'Instant Family' (2018), and 'Onward' (2020).
Born in 1970 in Montgomery, Alabama, alongside six siblings, Spencer also has several TV shows to her credit such as 'Mom' (2013–15), Fox series 'Red Band Society' (2014–15), Apple TV+ drama series 'Truth Be Told' (2019–present), and clinched an Emmy for her portrayal of Madam CJ Walker in Netflix's 'Self Made' (2020).
Stanley Tucci as Mr Stringer
Stanley Tucci is seen as a hotel manager named Mr Stringer in the film. Born November 11, 1960, he is known for his supporting roles in Woody Allen's 'Deconstructing Harry' (1997), Sam Mendes' 'Road to Perdition' (2002) and Steven Spielberg's 'The Terminal' (2004). He is also popular for his collaborations with Meryl Streep in films like 'The Devil Wears Prada' (2006) and 'Julie & Julia' (2009).
The 59-year-old also gained acclaim with his roles in 'Captain America: The First Avenger' (2011), 'The Hunger Games' franchise (2012-2015), 'Spotlight' (2015) and 'Beauty and the Beast' (2017).
Jahzir Kadeem Bruno as Charlie Hansen
Jahzir Kadeem Bruno plays the role of Charlie Hansen, a young boy who is turned into a mouse by the Grand High Witch. In the movie, he is lovingly called 'Hero Boy' by his grandma. The 12-year-old actor has also starred in films such as 'Atlanta' (2016) and 'The Oath' (2018).
Alongside Hathaway, the other two witches are Josette Simon as Zelda and Eugenia Caruso as Consuella.
The other cast members include Chris Rock as the voice of Adult Charlie Hansen — the narrator who tells the firsthand account of his experience as a child, Kristin Chenoweth as the voice of Daisy — a girl who was turned into a mouse after 31 years, Codie-Lei Eastick as Bruno Jenkins — an English boy who is turned into a mouse, Charles Edwards as Mr Jenkins, the father of Bruno, and Morgana Robinson as Mrs Jenkins, the mother of Bruno.
Other actors in the film are Ana-Maria Maskell as witch Esmerelda, Orla O'Rourke as witch Saoirse, Penny Lisle as witch Lana and Simon Manyonda as Sous-Chef.