Evan Rachel Wood Reveals Only One ‘Practical Magic 2’ Cast Member Reached Out After Her Shocking Recast

Legacy sequels always walk a delicate line between honoring the original cast and making room for new faces to carry the story forward. When those transitions happen smoothly, fans barely notice the seams, but when they don’t, the fallout can overshadow the excitement of the sequel itself.

That tension has been quietly simmering around Warner Bros.’ long-awaited follow-up to its 1998 cult classic, which reunites its two original leads while swapping out one key piece of the family at the center of the story. Fans have spent months processing the decision to recast a beloved character from the first film, and now the actress at the heart of that change is speaking out.

Evan Rachel Wood revealed that only Joey King, the actress replacing her as Kylie Owens in ‘Practical Magic 2,’ reached out to her personally after the recasting decision was made. Wood shared on Instagram that she really appreciated King reaching out, noting that no one who worked on the original film did the same, and calling King a sweetheart, according to Variety.

The comment appeared to carry a subtle jab at Wood’s original co-stars, Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, both of whom are reprising their roles as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens in the sequel. Wood went on to explain that she’d read the source material and felt her character could have made sense to bring back depending on how the story was approached, though she acknowledged the direction the filmmakers ultimately chose made recasting understandable from their end.

Joey King addressed the exchange directly while speaking at the ‘Practical Magic 2’ Los Angeles premiere. She described having a lovely conversation with Wood about stepping into the role, expressing how appreciative she was of the support Wood showed both to her personally and to the rest of the new cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

King also spoke warmly about Wood’s original performance, calling her incredibly talented and noting how special she made the role when she played it as a young girl. That exchange between the two actresses appears to have smoothed over at least some of the tension surrounding the recasting decision, even as questions about the original cast’s silence lingered.

Director Susanne Bier addressed the reasoning behind the recasting decision during the premiere as well, explaining that the choice came down to matching a specific age range for the story rather than anything personal. She noted that the characters needed to feel like they were essentially fresh out of college, and that King and Maisie Williams, who takes over the role of Antonia from original actress Alexandra Artrip, simply felt like the right fit for that stage of the story.

Wood played Kylie Owens, the youngest daughter of Bullock’s character Sally, in the original 1998 film, appearing alongside Artrip as her older sister Antonia. In ‘Practical Magic 2,’ the story follows those daughters as young adults discovering their own magical heritage, a structural shift that ultimately shaped the decision to bring in new actresses for the roles.

Wood has previously spoken about learning she wasn’t being asked to return, explaining she had offered her services even for a single scene or line but was told the production was recasting regardless. She maintained that the decision was entirely out of her hands, adding that she would have happily rejoined her onscreen sisters if given the opportunity.

‘Practical Magic 2’ is set to hit theaters on September 18, bringing the Owens family story back to the big screen nearly three decades after the original’s cult following first took shape. Whether the recasting controversy fades into the background once the film actually arrives remains to be seen, though King’s gracious handling of the situation has at least kept the conversation from turning entirely sour.

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