Omri Katz said he was experimenting with cannabis while filming the 1993 movie Hocus Pocus, and that he struggled to hit some of his marks and cues. In an Entertainment Weekly interview published October 26, 2022, Katz recalled that director Kenny Ortega confronted him about it.
What Omri Katz said happened on the set
Katz described the period as an age when he had started experimenting with cannabis. “Let’s just say, some of those scenes, I was having a good old time,” he said in the interview, as reported by Us Weekly.
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Hocus Pocus | $21.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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He recalled “misperforming and not hitting my keys or marks.” Ortega asked whether he was high. Katz said he denied it at the time, but later acknowledged that he was. He described the incident as a wake-up call to be more professional and make sure he hit his cues.
Which Hocus Pocus scene was he high in?
Katz said he could not remember exactly which scenes were involved. Costar Vinessa Shaw suggested an early cottage sequence in which Winifred zaps Max with a green bolt. That was Shaw’s recollection, not a scene Katz identified with certainty. He joked, “I didn’t look like I was getting zapped. I looked like I was getting high.”
#1 Best Overall
- Conjured up by some unsuspecting pranksters, a tricky trio of 300-year-old witches set out to cast a spell on the town and reclaim their youth. But first, they must get their act together and outwit three kids and a talking cat.
Tobias Jelinek later recalled a separate incident
In an October 20, 2025 interview reported by TheWrap, actor Tobias Jelinek recalled that Katz got him high before they rehearsed the pumpkin-smashing scene. Jelinek said he felt impaired during rehearsal. His account concerns his own experience and is separate from Katz’s uncertain memory of which scenes he had been high during.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
- Actors: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch
- Directors: Kenny Ortega
- Format: PAL, Blu-ray
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, Latin
Rank #2
- Factory sealed DVD
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