By the power of three times three! When The Craft premiered in 1996, it was an instant — and surprise — hit, kicking off a teen witch craze that hasn’t ever really abated.
The film follows Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney) as she settles into a new school in Los Angeles after moving from San Francisco with her dad and stepmom. She befriends a trio of outsiders in her class — Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk), Bonnie Harper (Neve Campbell) and Rochelle Zimmerman (Rachel True) — who turn out to be witches that worship a deity named Manon.
Having grown up with her own unexplainable powers, Sarah initially fits right in with her fellow witches, who each use their abilities to solve their problems. Nancy curses her abusive stepfather, Rochelle causes a racist bully (Christine Taylor) to go bald and Bonnie heals the scars on her back. Sarah casts a love spell on fellow student Chris Hooker (Skeet Ulrich), who’d falsely told the whole school that they’d slept together.
Soon, though, their magic boons begin to backfire, and as Nancy becomes increasingly power-hungry, the rest of the coven struggles to reel her back in. Sarah tries to bind her with a spell to prevent her from causing any more damage, but when it fails, the other girls turn on her. Eventually, though, Sarah prevails, successfully binding Nancy. Manon takes away Rochelle and Bonnie’s powers as punishment for their previous behavior, and the movie ends with Nancy locked in a psychiatric hospital. Sarah, however, remains a witch.
When the movie debuted, Campbell and Tunney were already on the radar of teen movie and TV enthusiasts, with the former starring in Party of Five and the latter appearing in Empire Records, but The Craft raised them to a new level of stardom. Balk, meanwhile, became a goth beauty icon.
Just four months after the film’s release, Sabrina the Teenage Witch debuted on ABC as part of its “T.G.I.F.” lineup, and the following year, the WB premiered Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At the 1997 MTV Movie Awards, the film’s icon status was further cemented when Balk and Tunney took home the Golden Popcorn trophy for best fight, beating out fight expert Jackie Chan for his work in Police Story 4: First Strike.
In October 2013, Campbell, True and Tunney reunited for a sold-out screening of the movie held in an appropriately spooky locale — the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, and in 2020, director Zoe Lister-Jones rebooted the property with The Craft: Legacy.
Balk was the only actor from the original to return for Legacy, which revealed that Nancy had a daughter named Lily (Cailee Spaeny) who was born with powers. “At the time when we made [The Craft], I really had no idea it would land so hugely and it would be so influential to people,” Balk told the Los Angeles Times in 2020. “It’s great to hear years later that something that you were a part of had a really positive effect on folks. That’s what we all hope art will do.”
Keep scrolling to find out what these teen witches have been up to since they first summoned the power of Manon:
Robin Tunney
Tunney played Sarah Bailey, the new girl in town who falls in with a group of witches. That same year, she appeared in the TV movie Riders of the Purple Sage with Ed Harris. She later starred in Vertical Limit, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Hollywoodland and Horse Girl. Her TV credits include House, Prison Break, The Mentalist and Insatiable. Tunney was married to Bob Gosse, who directed her in Niagara, Niagara, from 1995 to 2006. In 2012, she began dating Nicky Marmet. They share two children, Oscar and Colette.
Fairuza Balk
As Nancy, Balk struck fear in the hearts of her fellow witches and classmates, clamoring for power and punishing her enemies with magic. After The Craft, she starred in ’90s classics American History X and The Waterboy, then later appeared in Almost Famous, Deuces Wild and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. In 2021, her new series Paradise City debuted on Amazon Prime. She is also a musician and visual artist.
Neve Campbell
A few months after the film’s premiere, Campbell appeared in Scream with Craft costar Ulrich. She went on to star in the franchise’s other three installments and and reprised her role as Sidney Prescott in Scream 5. In June 2022, the Canada native confirmed that she would be exiting the franchise.
Some of her TV credits include Medium, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad Men and House of Cards. She has been in a relationship with actor JJ Feild since 2011. They share two sons, Caspian and Raynor.
Rachel True
After playing Rochelle, True went on to star in Half Baked, The Perfect Holiday, Sharknado 2: The Second One and beloved teen drama Dawson’s Creek. More recently, she’s appeared on TV shows including Being Mary Jane, Better Things and Good Trouble. In 2020, she launched her own tarot deck and guidebook called True Heart Intuitive Tarot.
Skeet Ulrich
The same year he played villainous Chris Hooker, Ulrich returned as villain Billy Loomis in Scream. His other movie credits include As Good As It Gets, Ride With the Devil and Escape Room. In 2017, he began his four-year run as FP Jones, father of Jughead, on Riverdale. He shares twins Jakob and Naiia with ex-wife Georgina Cates, whom he split from in 2005 after eight years of marriage. In 2021, he was linked to Lucy Hale, but they broke up in April of that year after three months together.
Christine Taylor
Taylor played Laura Lizzie, the racist bully who goes bald after ending up on the business end of Rochelle’s curse. Also in 1996, she reprised her role as Marcia Brady in A Very Brady Sequel. The Wedding Singer actress met future husband Ben Stiller in 1999 while filming Heat Vision and Jack, and they went on to make Zoolander, Zoolander 2, Tropic Thunder and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story together before splitting in 2017. In February 2022, however, Stiller revealed that the duo are giving their marriage another try after spending time together during the coronavirus pandemic. The twosome share two children, Ella and Quinlin.
Breckin Meyer
Meyer had a minor role as Mitt, one of Chris’ friends, but his teen movie days were just beginning in 1996. He followed The Craft with Can’t Hardly Wait, Road Trip and Josie and the Pussycats. From 2011 to 2014 he played one of the leads in the lawyer dramedy Franklin & Bash, and he’s done voiceover work on shows including Family Guy and Robot Chicken. He shares two daughters, Clover and Caitlin, with ex-wife Deborah Kaplan, whom he divorced in 2014.
Helen Shaver
The Canadian actress played Grace Downs, Nancy’s troubled mother. Keeping with the vibe of The Craft, she starred in Poltergeist: The Legacy from 1996 to 1999. She’s also a prolific TV director, helming episodes of The O.C., Private Practice, Castle, Orphan Black, Westworld and Lovecraft Country, among others. She has been married to Steve Smith since 1988. They have one son, Mackenzie.
Assumpta Serna
As occult shop owner Lirio, Serna tried — and ultimately failed — to teach the coven how to use their magic for good. The Spanish actress has since alternated between Spanish- and English-language projects, appearing in the film Kiss and Tell as well as TV series including Borgia and Henry VIII. She has been married to Scott Cleverdon, whom she met while filming Sharpe’s Company, since 1993.
