Nicole Kidman has praised the performance of the black cat in Practical Magic 2, calling it the best feline she has worked with on camera. The Oscar-winning actress, who plays Gilly in the sequel, credited her co-star Sandra Bullock for casting the cat, saying: "That cat is the best cat I've ever worked with on camera. And cats can be a little tricky on camera. That cat did everything it was asked to do. Sandy cast the cat."
Cat Casting and Family Memories
The 59-year-old star, who has several pet cats and has expressed a desire to adopt a hairless sphynx cat, recalled a black cat from her own family: "We had a black cat in our family, too, called Pinkle Purr. Tattoo was the mother of Pinkle Purr."
Sandra Bullock, 62, speaking on The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service, admitted she made a "vanity" choice when casting the animal, whose name has not been revealed: "I was like, 'this is a much more attractive cat.'"
Reunion After 28 Years
The actresses have reunited for the sequel to Practical Magic, the 1998 witchy fantasy comedy that grossed around $94.4 million (£69.7 million) worldwide. Practical Magic 2 opened on September 11, with a predicted global box office gross of between $58 million and $63 million for the weekend.
Playing Owen sisters Sally (Sandra) and Gilly (Nicole), their Massachusetts family of witches has been cursed by a spell cast by their ancestor Maria, meaning any man who falls in love with an Owens woman dies. In the sequel, the pair attempt to break the spell by confronting dark secrets, learning that a witch must sacrifice herself to lift the curse.
Deeper Curse and Character Insights
In the original film, they thought they had already achieved this and normality had been restored. But Sandra said: "It turns out that the curse wasn't cured or solved the way that they thought, in that it's actually a much deeper thing. It's a generational thing, which is very metaphoric for what goes on in most of our lives in the familial sort of lineage of things."
Her character, Sally, decides that erasing her daughters Antonia and Kylie's memories of magic will prevent their heartbreak. Sandra explained: "She shut herself down and thought, 'if I hide the truth from my children, I will be able to protect them.' But what she's done is hide her children's truth from them, while they don't know what their power is. So it's actually the reverse. She puts them in danger. As a mom, you want to protect your kids. And sometimes it's not your job to protect them in certain situations. So this is where we find her and she's just fearful and closed up."
Nicole interjected: "Gilly is trying to convince her that they [her children] need to know. They need to know their origins. They need to know who they are. They need to know, so that they can embrace their power."
Big-hearted and quirky Gilly has been a dream role for Nicole, whose 19-year marriage to musician Keith Urban ended in September 2025. She has recently been linked to private equity investor Michael Reinstein. Nicole, whose main home is in Nashville, Tennessee, said: "I love playing that part. I mean, because I don't get to do that that often. So, suddenly I get to be sort of the whimsical one - the one who's like, 'let's have some fun.'"
Sandra, who became famous after starring with Keanu Reeves in the breakthrough hit Speed in 1994, added: "See, that's how I see her [Nicole] in real life. I see her as that person." Nicole, married to movie megastar Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001 and whose other hit movies include Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Moulin Rouge (2001), said: "I hope I'm like that in real life."
Behind the Scenes and Production Changes
Since the first Practical Magic movie, both stars have won Best Actress Oscars - Nicole for her portrayal of author Virginia Woolf in The Hours (2002) and Sandra for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009). They have both survived difficult life events, with Sandra losing her longtime partner, photographer Bryan Randall, in August 2023 after eight years together, when he died from the neurodegenerative disease ALS, aged 57. Sandra, who is not known to be dating and splits her time between homes in California and Texas, has two adopted children, like Nicole, who also has two biological kids.
Originally set to be filmed in the Pacific Northwest, Practical Magic 2 completely changed its production base to southern England, using studio backlots, parts of historic London and suburban areas, all transformed to look like New England. Much of the action was filmed at the Warner Bros. Studios' Leavesden site, a major film and TV studio complex near Watford, Hertfordshire. This was largely down to cost considerations and because the iconic gothic Victorian house from the 1998 movie, built on Washington State's Whidbey Island, was only a shell, torn down after filming.
Recalling being back on set for the sequel, Sandra said: "What was so ironic is that we scouted locations. We went to Malta. We were in Paris, walking in the rain going, 'there's so much of this book that we could put into the movie.' And then we go to the back lot at Warner Brothers in the rain in January and it's muddy and we see the sea of brown and we realise 'this is our home.'" These interviews were taken from The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service, which can be heard in full on BBC Sounds.
