Agatha All AlongEpisode 7is one of thehighest-rated installments Marvel televisionhas ever put out — and for good reason. The episode shines the spotlight onPatti LuPone’sLilia Calderu, a 450-year-old divination witch, and her journey from learning how to use her magic with herMaestra as a childup until herbeautiful, heartbreaking death as she sacrifices herself to defeat the Salem Sevenand allow the rest of the coven to escape with their lives.
LuPone is a Broadway legend, having won three Tonys, two Oliviers, and two Grammys, but she’s no stranger to the screen, either. She’s an Emmy nominee for her guest performance onFrasier, and she more recently appeared in similarly spooky series likeAmerican Horror StoryandPenny Dreadful. Still, LuPone has never been part of something quite like the MCU before, and she’s relishing the opportunity to play in the world and be introduced to a whole new audience. It’s safe to say old and new fans alike have been blown away by her breathtaking performance.
Collider got the chance to do a deep-dive into Episode 7 with LuPone. The actress also shared howAgatha All Alonghelped her fulfill a lifelong dream, broke down Lilia’s complex relationship with Agatha, revealed the particular challenges of filming on the stunning Witches’ Road, and more.
Patti LuPone Breaks Down ‘Agatha All Along’ Episode 7’s Most Powerful Moments
COLLIDER: I am so excited to talk to you about this show. Episode 7 is one of my favorite episodes I’ve seen in a very long time. The editing in it is so cool because we, as an audience, get to experience life as Lilia did. I’m curious how you approached the rapidly switching timelines in that episode and kept it all straight in your head as an actor.
PATTI LUPONE: I don’t know whether I kept it straight in my head. I was worried about that. I wished that I was a better reader, and I told that to Jac Schaeffer, the creator. It was all there. She’s so amazing at creating puzzles, and having never worked with her before, I didn’t know how. I sawWandaVision, and I had a hard time pulling that together, too. But that’s part of her genius. One aspect of her genius is that ability to create the puzzle. Had I been a better reader, I would have known how, in Episode 7, that particular line came back to Episode 3. I just wasn’t successful in connecting the dots as a reader. When we got to the set, of course, Jac talked me through and reminded me, andI knew when I did those what I had done physically, but sometimes, I wished I was better in the intention of it. I think I’m being very critical of myself, but you always want to do better.
Of course. Well,Ithink it was definitely successful, in my opinion as a viewer.
Thank you! [Pumps fists] Thank you.
One line that I really loved was when Lilia tells Jen, “You’re my sister in the craft.” I’m curious if you’re able to talk about that moment and the weight of Lilia finally claiming this other witch as her sister after so many years of not doing that.
I think the arc of that character, or rather the growth and discovery of Lilia, is that she starts to accept these people into her life. Those barriers, those blocks, and those walls are crumbling to let somebody in again. I think the power of “you’re mysisterin thecraft” isshe’s embracing her power as a witchand her witchness. Innately, in the second episode, when she sees Jennifer, and she says, “Hi, priestess,” she’s saying, “Hi, priestess,” but she’s saying, “High Priestess.” She sees her power. All of that stuff is starting to come into play and come into her mind in a clearer way. It’s a fantastic character to play because of the pieces that are there. How do I, as an actor, play that? I gave myself over to the information in that particular moment because it’s a complicated script, so what I needed to do was focus on what I was saying at that moment.
The writing is so good, and even just the line “I loved being a witch” is so simple but packs such a punch.
[Makes sobbing noises]
It makes me want to cry every time I think about it!
I think Idid!
What did you want to convey with that sentence, and why do you think it hits as hard as it does even though it’s so simple?
Acceptance. How many of us can say, “I love me.” You know what I mean? How many of us can say, “I’m perfectly happy with who I am”? Lilia, by joining the coven, is giving herself an opportunity she may not want to take because of the pain involved or the disappointment involved. Maybe nothing is going to happen — maybe this is futile — but she takes the leap and opens herself up and embraces who she is and what her destiny is. And I just want to say, we don’t see her land, soI’m convinced she’s not dead.
I love it! I love it!
I’m thinking, if they go off and do something else with Agatha and Billy, Lilia can fall through a scene. [Laughs]
A little background cameo! We need that.
Just in the background, you see Lilia. [Laughs]
Just through the window again.Incredible.
Patti LuPone Says Lilia Is Protective of Agatha in ‘Agatha All Along’
Beyond Lilia’s “maybe death,” there’s so much interesting stuff about death — that theme really shines through in this whole show. It definitely made me feel and think about it in a different way, and I’m curious if it made you think about mortality in a different way as well.
I’m just already thinking about mortalitybecause of my age, you know what I mean? I don’t know how many years I’ve got left, and I’m trying to put all the pieces in order for my family. But no, I didn’t. I’m already thinking of it. For the younger kids, maybe they were thinking about it. Maybe Joe was thinking about it, maybe Aubrey was thinking about it, but for me? I’malreadythinking about it. [Shrugs]
Fair enough. Speaking of dynamics between an older witch and a slightly younger witch, I really love the relationship between Lilia and Agatha. While Lilia is very wary of Agatha, there seem to be these little moments of softness and protection toward each other at various points. I’m curious how you viewed and approached their dynamic because it did seem almost maternal at times, to me at least.
I think Lilia accepts the fact that she’s the matriarch. She isn’t the powerful one — she’s not leading it — but she is the wisest if she would pull her shit together. She could be the wisest because she has the years behind her. Agatha has been proven to be a difficult personality, and yet, you see her vulnerability when Teen is injured. And then, in the episode with her mother, I think all of us see what a life she had. The fact that a mother wants to kill a child? It’s sort of anatural instinct to protect. We’re not as bad as she is, so our instinct is to protect.
‘Agatha All Along’ Let Patti LuPone Fulfill This Lifelong Dream
Someone needs to. She’s had a long, long life. You have had an incredible career, obviously, from the stage to the screen. What has this show allowed you to do that you feel like you haven’t gotten to do in any other project thus far?
[Throws arms up] Fly! But she didn’t fly high enough! Or long enough! [Laughs] I’m kidding. No, I’m not kidding about that — I’ve always wanted to fly. I’ve always wanted to play Peter Pan, and that, of course, eluded me.It introduced me to a whole different populationof kids who may not know anything about my career, either on stage or other television shows that I’ve done. I love that. I mean, I remember when I was doingCompanyin London, somebody in the autograph line handed me a Yellow Diamond doll fromSteven Universe, and I went, “Oh my God — they know me from that.” I love the fact that I’m being introduced to more people in the Marvel world. I think that’s great.
You’ve been mentioning the stunts and the flying. Not only do you get to do that, but there are so many props that you get to interact with in the show. Was there one scene that was most fun for you to get to film in this?
The ‘70s in the recording studio was fun. The whole thing. I was so lucky that they called. I had a blast every time I was on the set. I can’t favor one over the other. I was just so happy to be among that cast and that crew and those creators. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
On the flip side of that, because Lilia is such a complex character and there’s a lot going on with the timeline of things, was there an element or scene that you found most difficult to approach or shoot?
Probably the Witches’ Road when we were being chased by the Salem Seven. I didn’t get to do some of the stunts because I had broken my wrist, and then also, because of my age, the production wouldn’t let Debra Jo and I go down the chute. I’m so glad I didn’t have to go in the oven because I couldn’t figure out how I was going togetin the oven since I had a broken wrist. I would think probably some of the stuff on the Witches’ Road. You know,the Witches’ Road got us sick. It was completely organic, and apparently, you’re able to ingest too much organic matter, and we were getting sick from it. [Laughs] We had to stop production for them to figure out what was going on. It was all organic. It was the most beautiful set I have ever seen in my life. I cried when I saw it. I think there’s footage of us walking onto the Witches’ Road going, “Oh my god.” But there was something — I don’t know if it was the leaves or what it was — but we were all getting sick.
That’s so funny. I did see the video they released of everyone walking onto it. It was so powerful.
I started to cry! I just could not believe what I was seeing. It was stunning. Kudos to the production designer and all of his artisans who worked alongside him. It was stunning. Some of the work on the Witches’ Road was tough. You know,the mud was chocolate pudding. Let’s talk about the chocolate pudding — that was disgusting!
That’s a lot to have to act with the chocolate pudding, for sure. You are obviously a Broadway legend, and Lilia has some years behind her, so I’m curious what you think her music taste is like. What does Lilia listen to?
I think she would probably listen toSicilian folk songs. That’d be interesting to find. She would not listen to anything religious, and I don’t think she would listen to anything from the court. She would be living during the times of kings and queens — she wouldn’t be listening to anything from the court. I would imagine it would be stuff that was lullabies and funereal wails, for lack of a better word. The wind, the rain, the water. The other thing that’s so interesting to me is the definition of witch. What is a witch? She is an Earth mother. She is someone who understood that digging into the earth was the healing power and how they healed. Those women used everything that the universe gave them.
Agatha All Alongis available to stream on Disney+.
Agatha All Along
Agatha Harkness, following the events of “WandaVision,” embarks on a quest to reclaim her lost powers. Teaming up with unlikely allies, including the son of her former enemy, she faces new mystical threats while navigating a complex world of magic and intrigue.
