Maisie Williams says she played Practical Magic 2 witch as a lesbian

Maisie Williams played her Practical Magic 2 witch as a lesbian, even though the film never says so outright.

Williams, who plays Antonia Owens in the sequel, told Gay Times she had always treated the character as a sapphic icon, according to Deadline. The interview was conducted by Sam Damshenas for Gay Times. The film opened in theatres on 18 September 2026.

Practical Magic 2 is directed by Susanne Bier and adapts Alice Hoffman’s novel The Book of Magic, with a script by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel, according to Deadline. It brings back Sandra Bullock as Sally and Nicole Kidman as Gillian, the witch sisters from the 1998 original. This time Sally and Gillian travel to England after Sally’s daughter Kylie, played by Joey King, to confront an old family curse and help Kylie’s comatose boyfriend Gideon, played by Xolo Maridueña.

The book tells Antonia’s story more directly. In Hoffman’s 2021 novel, Antonia is Sally’s daughter and a lesbian medical student, according to Autostraddle. She has a love interest named Ariel, a lawyer who helps investigate the curse. The novel also has Antonia pregnant with her best friend’s baby.

That detail does not carry over in the same form on screen. Williams said her reading of the character stayed with her during the shoot, even without explicit lines to confirm it in the finished film.

The sequel also brings back Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing, who played the Owens aunts in the first film. Six new cast members were added to the ensemble last year, according to Deadline.

For fans, this means two versions of Antonia exist side by side. The book gives her a clear love story. The film leaves it unsaid, with Williams’ own take filling in the gap.