Interview: New ‘Sabrina’ Star Kiernan Shipka Talks Dark Witches and Being Lucky

Perhaps coming as no surprise given an edgy resume included Mad Men and Feud: Bette & Joan that she’s been building since the age of ten, Kiernan Shipka prefers her teenage witches dark.

ComicBook.com caught a few moments with the 18-year-old actress during the Hollywood awards season as she made the rounds for the oft-nominated Feud, and she revealed exactly why she was excited to bring the classic Archie Comics character and teenage witch Sabrina back to television, this time ditching the tween appeal of the Melissa Joan Hart incarnation in favor of a more dark and mature take inspired by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Robert Hack’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic book miniseries.

Shipka said she loves “so many things” about the more shadowy interpretation of Sabrina Spellman. “After I read the script, I became immediately obsessed with the role, with how Sabrina is portrayed and how badass the whole thing is,” she continued. “It’s going to be really dark and really cool, and have this very like macabre take on everything. I’m really pumped to be a witch. Who wouldn’t be?”

The actress also admitted that she’s long been attracted to stories set in the witch-y and supernatural genres. “I mean, I love The Crucible, and I love kind of the like dark Rosemary’s Baby vibe of things,” Shipka said. “And this is the direction that it’s going to go, which is really fun.”

Shipka also said she hoped Netflix series, which was also created by Aguirre-Sacasa, who will write and direct the pilot, enjoys the same high-quality pedigree and inspires similar fan devotion as her prior projects.

“I’ve really been lucky to fall into some pretty incredible things,” she said. “I don’t know how I got this lucky, I really don’t, but certainly have been super fortunate. I always am pinching myself.”