Fairuza Balk is an actress who gained fame for her portrayal of the character Nancy in the 1996 film "The Craft." In the movie, Balk plays a teenage witch who uses her powers for personal gain. Her character is both captivating and somewhat terrifying, showcasing Balk's ability to embrace complex and dark roles. Since the release of "The Craft," Balk has often been associated with the image of a witch. This connection may be due to her standout performance in the film, as well as her gothic style and alternative persona. In interviews, Balk has spoken about her interest in spirituality and her own experiences with the supernatural, which may further contribute to her witch-like reputation.

Fairuza Balk Wants You to Know That She Was Never Actually a Witch

She played one in The Craft, but now she wants to clear up some rumors.

Actress Fairuza Balk is undoubtedly most known for her show-stealing performance as Nancy Downs in 1996’s The Craft, a role that nabbed her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress. In fact, Balk was so good as the witchcraft-practicing teen that many still believe to this day that she actually is a witch in real life!

Balk set the record straight in a chat with EW, detailing her connection to an occult shop in the ’90s that furthered the rumors that she was practicing witchcraft at the time.

“The true story is I found this occult shop in L.A. and I used to go there to ask them questions and do my research,” Balk explained. “They were really lovely people. [The woman who owned it] wanted to retire. She couldn’t put the kind of money into it that it needed to keep it up and so it was going to be turned into a Chinese restaurant. I thought for the oldest occult shop in the country, that’s a tragedy. There was a man that used to work there and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject and he was a sort of a teacher to me during [The Craft]. I thought, what a shame this is going to be turned into a Chinese restaurant. So I bought it and put some work into it and helped it survive.”

“But people of course were like, ‘She bought an occult shop and she’s fully into this and it’s all real.’ That has taken on its entire own mythology that’s essentially out of my hands,” Balk continued. “You can tell the truth and talk to people but they want to believe what they want to believe. What can you do? I’m not involved with that shop anymore. It was a very long time ago.”

Important news bulletin of the day: The Craft's Fairuza Balk is not, in fact, a witch

The ’90s were replete with just about every great, kitschy Halloween movie there is, including Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, Scream and, obviously, Idle Hands.

But perhaps what defined the decade best (and continues to be one of the greatest teen cult classics of all time) is The Craft, which followed a group of wannabe witches who were both friends and frenemies. It was dark, it was funny and, aside from that whole magic thing, it was real, exploring a world of themes (abuse, rape, racism) and giving us the priceless foursome that was Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Rachel True and, the most iconic of them all, Fairuza Balk, who played Nancy, their psychotic, power-hungry, self-destructive ringleader.

Important news bulletin of the day: The Craft's Fairuza Balk is not, in fact, a witch Back to video

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To be a teenager in the ’90s was to worship Fairuza Balk, her cropped hair, haunted eyes and goth aesthetic. Her performance was so good, so high-strung, that it made many believe it was true to life. At one time, she even owned Panpipes, an occult shop in Hollywood, only fuelling the rumours that, in real life, Balk was very much a living, breathing, practicing witch.

We were so in love with the character she portrayed in the film that we all just wanted to believe – evidence (or lack, thereof) be damned.

Sadly, in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, two decades after the rumours took flight, Balk set the record straight: she is not, in fact, a witch.

“The true story is I found this occult shop in L.A. and I used to go there to ask them questions and do my research,” Balk said. “They were really lovely people. [The woman who owned it] wanted to retire. She couldn’t put the kind of money into it that it needed to keep it up and so it was going to be turned into a Chinese restaurant. I thought for the oldest occult shop in the country, that’s a tragedy.”

She added, “There was a man that used to work there and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject and he was a sort of a teacher to me during [The Craft]. I thought, what a shame this is going to be turned into a Chinese restaurant. So I bought it and put some work into it and helped it survive. But people of course were like, ‘She bought an occult shop and she’s fully into this and it’s all real.’ That has taken on its entire own mythology that’s essentially out of my hands. You can tell the truth and talk to people but they want to believe what they want to believe. What can you do? I’m not involved with that shop anymore. It was a very long time ago.”

Balk also clarified that she is not a practicing Pagan, and only heard those rumours when she started filming the movie. Aside from a few memorable follow-up roles in American History X and Almost Famous, Balk has mostly disappeared from the acting world, remaining relatively out of the limelight.

As it turns out, she did not resort to magic to make her star shine brighter. Let’s just hope she didn’t betray her coven…

Fairuza Balk on the legacy of ‘The Craft’ and stepping back from Hollywood

Warning: The following story contains a key spoiler for “The Craft: Legacy.” It is intended for those who have seen the film. If you’d like to read some non-spoilery “The Craft: Legacy” content, check out this review.

Twenty-four years since “The Craft” hit theaters and became a sleeper hit, Nancy Downs is back in Zoe Lister-Jones’ “The Craft: Legacy.”

Yes, that’s Fairuza Balk briefly reprising her role as Downs, a high school outcast turned witch who was binded against using her powers and institutionalized by the end of the 1996 film. In the Blumhouse follow-up, which debuted on VOD just before Halloween, it is revealed that Downs gave birth to a daughter, Lily (played by Cailee Spaeny), while committed — and allowed her psychiatrist to adopt the baby.

It’s an especially notable cameo because Balk hasn’t been seen on screen much in recent years. While she was very active in the late ’90s and early 2000s, with credits including “American History X,” “The Waterboy” and “Almost Famous,” Balk largely turned her attention to other creative outlets in the last decade. Outside of an arc on Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” in 2015, she’s only appeared in a handful of indie films during the time.

Now that audiences have had a chance to discover her surprise return, The Times caught up with Balk to discuss the legacy of “The Craft,” being typecast and why she felt she needed to step back from Hollywood.

How were you approached for a follow-up to “The Craft,” and what made you want to sign on?

I met with Zoe a couple of years ago and she pitched me an idea [where] she wanted to take the premise but [inject] a lot of messages that she really wanted to get across to the public. And one of those messages was women backing women instead of women attacking women because there’s been so much of that in film, way more than is needed. Her ideas were very pro-woman and women’s empowerment and taking power back. And that’s something that I really believe in and wanted to help her with.

Would you ever want to revisit Nancy again in a future sequel or iteration of the story?

It would really depend on the script and how they approach the character.

But it’s not out of the question.

No, no, no. Not out of the question. But it’s got to be good. [laughs]

The cast of 1996 teen horror film “The Craft” included Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True.

What are your thoughts on the legacy of the original movie? How has it impacted your life and career?

It’s surprising. At the time when we made this, I really had no idea it would land so hugely and it would be so influential to people. To my mind, it had no gravitas. But that’s what’s cool about art . it affects everybody differently.

I’ve had meetings with fans and letters and emails where [they tell me] Nancy really affected them deeply in their lives. Some fans refer to her as their spirit animal. Like they try to picture themselves as her when they’re dealing with difficult parts of their life because they see her as this incredibly strong force of nature. [It’s] very interesting because when I played her, the director’s intention was that she really be truly psychotic. [laughs] But it’s wonderful. 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.

So how do you feel the new movie compares to the original?

I have not seen it. That is the god’s honest truth, so I can’t comment.

Do you plan to?

Any reason why?

I stopped watching my work a while ago. But then again, from what I’m told, I’m just [in] the last scene.

How do you think teen movies, culture and representation has changed since the ‘90s?

Oh, well everything’s changed since the ’90s. The world is a very different place and to a large extent, I think, much tougher for teenage people. When we were teenagers, cellphones were very new, and bullying and social pressure was bad enough without that. And nowadays kids use social media in horrible ways because kids can be really cruel. They don’t yet understand the idea of comeuppance or karmic reprisal. And I think that puts a great deal more pressure and makes life a lot harder in terms of finding who you are and dealing with those aspects of growing up.

But that said, at the same time, I think that the digital era for certain individuals has been incredibly helpful. For example, kids that realize that they’re gay young. In our era, they all pretty much had to hide it just to get through high school without getting beaten up every day. And now they are finding other kids online that are helping them to stand strong and own who they are and be proud of who they are. I think that’s amazing and for that, I am truly grateful. So the digital era is by far not entirely negative. In terms of how teenage life is depicted, I think people are trying to change with the times.

When was the last time you watched the original “The Craft” and how does it hold up after all these years?

Honestly I haven’t seen it in ages and ages. But evidently people still love it. I mean it’s become a go-to film, definitely for Halloween, and I found out there’s some people that get together and watch it every weekend. I don’t even know how you could do that but they do . It’s a feel-good film, I think, for a lot of people. It’s just fun, like comfort food.

What have you noticed about how new audiences have reacted to it?

One thing that was really neat was seeing three generations of fans. There was a mom and she had a daughter and then she had a daughter and they were all dressed up as Nancy. That’s a trip. And one of the things I am most proud of in regards to this character is that she is done as a drag character. [laughs] That is one of the crowning achievements of my life. That I made a character so camp and so out there that she is beloved alongside other crazy characters that are depicted in drag shows. Because I grew up going to those shows. I loved drag performances and a few different times people have sent me videos of drag performances of Nancy and that makes me endlessly happy.

In the ’80s you also starred in “Return to Oz,” another cult favorite. How do the two fan bases compare?

Well, “Return to Oz” was a children’s movie and “The Craft” was more a preteen and teen movie. And [with] “Return to Oz,” it’s very interesting because at the time that the film was released, all the press said, “Oh it’s much too scary and there’s no singing and dancing, it’s like a surrealist piece.” And at the time, I was terribly hurt by that and I assumed that nobody saw it. But in fact, it was the opposite. Millions of people loved that film and still love that film and are obsessed with that film.

For me, there were movies that I watched all the time over and over as a kid — I loved “The Dark Crystal,” “Legend,” “The Last Unicorn,” “The NeverEnding Story,” “The Goonies.” And it makes me really happy to know that I was in a film that other people love as I loved my movies.

What made you step back from acting and what are you up to now?

Well acting, hopefully, I’ll be able to do for the rest of my life. That was the goal, but in my late 20s I stepped away from doing a lot of press because people just kept taking my words and rearranging them the wrong way and just depicting me as this crazy bad girl and it just really got old. They weren’t really listening to what I was actually saying, they just collected sound bites from other interviews that had misquoted me. So I just felt like “OK, I can’t win.”

Also, Hollywood is a very strange bubble, a very strange world, and some of the things — as the general public is starting to find out — some of the elements of that game are things I just couldn’t do. I’m just not wired that way or brought up that way. I had to step back for my own well-being and sense of self-preservation. Because I’ve given everything to my career, it came before everything for most of my life. And at a certain point, you have to remember that there is life outside of “Get the job, do the job.” There are other elements.

I started looking into and spending more time on other art forms that I really enjoy and I’m far happier for it. I don’t think I so much stepped away from acting as I became more selective. I love to do the actual work but the rest of it is not suited to everybody, let’s put it that way.

What other art forms have you been most involved in?

I paint and I write and I do music and mixed media. And I have been spending a lot of time since COVID with my father because his health has not been good. He is a multi-talented artist, he does a million different things. And one of the things I’ve always wanted to learn from him is silversmithing and goldsmithing. So I’ve been up there in the mountains learning how to work with metal — we’re getting into blacksmithing and it’s amazing. It’s its own entire universe of complexity and interest and it’s been a wonderful thing to get to spend so much time with him.

Because my business is basically. the machine has been switched off and put away. So I’m not being constantly called back to meet with someone or to do this or do that. I can just be there and spend time with him, and nothing is more important than family for me. You only have the time that you have and it’s very precious. So I’ve been really grateful for that and also grateful to have a focus because this time has just been so incredibly tough. And having something to keep you very busy and excited about is a blessing.

In interviews, Balk has spoken about her interest in spirituality and her own experiences with the supernatural, which may further contribute to her witch-like reputation. Despite the association with witchcraft, it is important to recognize that Fairuza Balk is an actress playing a character, and her portrayal in "The Craft" does not reflect her true beliefs or practices. Balk herself has stated that she does not identify as a witch but rather as a spiritual person who embraces a variety of religious and mystical beliefs.

On a personal level, Balk has always been known for her unique style and eccentric personality. Her performances often have a dark and enigmatic quality, and she is unafraid to take on unconventional roles. This fearlessness and ability to immerse herself in unconventional characters are what have made her beloved by fans and continue to make her a relevant figure in the film industry. Overall, while Fairuza Balk may be associated with witches due to her portrayal in "The Craft" and her personal interests, it is important to separate the actress from the characters she plays. Balk's talent, individuality, and willingness to embrace unconventional roles are what truly define her as an entertainer, rather than any association with witchcraft..

Reviews for "The Witchcraft Influence on Fairuza Balk's Career"

1. John - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with "Fairuza balk witch". The acting was wooden and the plot was predictable. I was expecting a thrilling witchy tale but instead, I got a dull and uninspired movie. Save your money and skip this one.

2. Sarah - 1 star - "Fairuza balk witch" was a complete waste of time. The story was confusing and poorly developed, making it hard to care about any of the characters. The special effects were also lacking, adding to the overall disappointment. I would not recommend this film to anyone looking for an enjoyable witch-themed movie.

3. Michael - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Fairuza balk witch", but it fell flat for me. The plot seemed promising, but the execution was lacking. The dialogue was cheesy and the characters were one-dimensional. Overall, it was a forgettable movie that failed to live up to its potential.

4. Emily - 2 stars - "Fairuza balk witch" was just not my cup of tea. The pacing was slow and the storyline was unengaging. The performances felt stiff and unconvincing, making it difficult to connect with any of the characters. I found myself checking the time throughout the film, waiting for it to be over. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver the thrills and excitement I was hoping for.

5. David - 1 star - "Fairuza balk witch" was a complete letdown for me. The movie lacked originality and felt like a rehash of other witch-themed films. The plot twists were predictable, making the storyline dull and uninspiring. The performances were also lackluster, failing to bring any depth to the characters. I would not recommend wasting your time on this mediocre film.

Fairuza Balk's Witchcraft Journey: From "The Craft" to Real-Life Spells