Jac Schaeffer Reveals the Moment She Knew ‘Agatha All Along’ Had Cast a Spell on Fans

Agatha All Along has quickly become a breakout hit with a star-studded cast featuring the likes of Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza and Patti LuPone. Despite the Marvel miniseries becoming a fan favorite, the show's creator Jac Schaeffer has no plans for a second season.

Parade caught up with Schaeffer at the 2025 SCAD TVFest to discuss some of the show's most iconic moments as well as the other witch-themed piece overtaking the entertainment space: Wicked.

Read on for the full interview.

Clarisa Franceschi, Parade: How does it feel to get ‘The Ballad of the Witches’ Road’ stuck in literally everyone's mind. And is it still stuck on your own?

Jac Schaeffer: I mean, yes. And also my family’s, yes. The idea was that we wanted to cast a spell on our audience, that was the big idea of the show, and it was sort of several weeks into the process that we were like, well, like a song is a spell. And so the fact that it got stuck in people's heads and that it iterated and iterated to me, that means we accomplished our goal.

Franceschi: What was your favorite memory from the creation process? And also, what was the moment where you were like, ‘this is it, we nailed it’?

Schaeffer: To answer the first question, I was having– it was before we started production, and it was very early on, and I had lunch with Kathryn Hahn, and she was asking me who was going to direct. And I told her that I was, and I was very nervous and like, I was like, is that okay? And she was like, ‘Uh!’ in her Kathryn way, she's like, ‘What's happening? It’s everything’. And she just fully committed to the adventure with me. And that was a really big moment for me. Like personally, emotionally and also I feel like for my career.

And then the second question, there were a lot of those moments. You know, one moment that was really special was when, in episode six, at the very end, when the camera pushes in on Joe and he says, I'm Billy Maximoff. We shot that a little bit later in the schedule, and, you know, Joe is extraordinary in the show, and he really sort of came into his own in like during production. And that moment, I think it was like the third or– no, it it's like the fourth or fifth take. He says it and it has so much gravity to it. He owns it. And afterwards I went to the Steadicam operator, Nick Mueller, who's really talented. And I was like, ‘You nailed it with that move.’ And he said to me, he's like, ‘No, Joe pulled me in’ and I was like,’He did’. So that was just like, we've made a superhero.

Franceschi: This seems to be the year of witches, we have ‘Agatha All Along’ and ‘Wicked’. Did you go see ‘Wicked” and what was it like to see that character that you were just represented on the big screen?

Schaeffer: I mean, of course I went to see ‘Wicked’, and of course I cried through the entirety of it. And it also like– I went with a dear friend and we both just cried. We just cried and like we were just leaking the whole time.

And it's one of those– that I sort of hope ‘Agatha's’ maybe in this camp where there are times when you cry and you're not really sure. It's some intersection of women and, you know, being marginalized and being pushed aside, and stepping into your own power and like, fighting injustice and finding sisterhood, and then sisterhood being disappointing and like all of that sort of morass. It was so, so moving to me. And I think that is what it means to be a witch, is all of that complexity. So yeah, that's what hit for me.

Franceschi: For me, my favorite line from the show is when she calls him ‘Teenager’ and it’s like, the full name. Do you have a moment where you're like, that line is it, that’s what stands out?

Schaeffer: Well we had a line that we had to cut that I can't even, it's not even funny. It's just Laura Donney, one of the writers, is very talented. She wrote a terrific line. Let me think. I mean, I love Kathryn’s. ‘If you want a straight answer, ask a straight lady’. I’m like, yeah, girl, do it.

Franceschi: We know that you are parting ways with the series. Do we know what to expect next from you? Are you able to tell us?

Schaeffer: Oh. For me. Oh unfortunately, I can't share. But thank you so much for asking.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.