Evan Rachel Wood has broken her silence on not returning for Practical Magic 2, telling Entertainment Tonight that the sequel seems to be departing from the novel it is based on. "I read the book and it seems like they're not following the book," Wood said in an interview clip ET posted to Instagram on 27 July 2026. "I think in the book it would have made sense to bring me back; I think in the way they're redoing it and approaching it, it didn't make sense" (The Hollywood Reporter).

The sequel adapts Alice Hoffman's novel The Book of Magic, the follow-up to her 1995 novel Practical Magic. Simon & Schuster, the book's publisher, even markets it with the subtitle "Practical Magic 2" on its official product page (Simon & Schuster). But Wood's account suggests the film is carving its own path from the source material.

In the original 1998 film, Wood played Kylie Owens, the eldest daughter of Sandra Bullock's character Sally Owens. Alexandra Artrip played her younger sister. Both Bullock and Nicole Kidman are reprising their roles as the witchy Owens sisters in the sequel, and some familiar faces are returning alongside them: Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing are back as Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny (The Hollywood Reporter).

Wood, however, is not. Joey King has been recast to play Wood's character, Kylie, and Maisie Williams takes over the role of Artrip's character's younger sister. Wood first revealed the news herself in June 2025, posting on Instagram that she had offered to return for even a single scene or line, only to be told the production was recasting. "I was told they are recasting," she wrote at the time (The Hollywood Reporter).

Wood told ET she is "sad" about missing out. "We bonded with that cast so much as children," she said, "and so to miss out on the opportunity to look at that cast and look at that house as an adult and see the history in our eyes, it's something that can't be faked" (The Hollywood Reporter).

ET has been rolling out coverage of the sequel across its platforms, including a "first look" video of Kidman and Bullock on set and paparazzi footage of Bullock reuniting with Wiest during filming (Entertainment Tonight). The network's written coverage of the sequel announcement dates back to June 2024, when it confirmed the project was officially in the works (Entertainment Tonight).

For fans of the original, the sequel is shaping up as a mix of the familiar and the new — returning stars alongside recast roles, and a story that may wander from the page more than readers expected.