Vinessa Shaw: What the ‘Hocus Pocus’ Teen Star Has Been Up To Lately
Vinessa Shaw is best known for her role in the 1993 Halloween classic Hocus Pocus, where she played the love interest of the teen protagonist. While she never quite reached household name status, she's appeared in an eclectic variety of projects over the years, and continues to work steadily in film and TV. Here's a look at her breakout role and what's been up to in the three decades since then.
How Vinessa Shaw got her start
As the daughter of Susan Damante , an actress who appeared in episodes of Columbo, Dallas and Falcon Crest , and Larry Shaw, a psychologist, Vinessa Shaw had an artsy upbringing and was raised as a practicing Buddhist—a faith she remains committed to to this day. The blonde beauty began modeling at 13, and made her film debut with a small part in the 1981 slasher movie Home Sweet Home.
Shaw then appeared in the 1992 TV movie Ladybugs and a handful of TV episodes, and in 1993, she had her big break when she was cast in Hocus Pocus at 17. While the film wasn't initially a big hit, it's become a nostalgic favorite over the years, and Shaw is happy to still be known for the film, saying, " It's such a fun story . . . and the fondness keeps growing." In fact, just in time for Halloween, she even hosted a fan event with some of her costars this month! After Hocus Pocus, Shaw appeared in the movies Coyote Summer (1996) and L.A. Without a Map (1998).
From family movies to controversial adult fare
In 1999, Shaw had a pivotal role as a prostitute in the controversial film Eyes Wide Shut. It was famously the final film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick , who died that same year, and Shaw said that the filmmaker made her realize that she wanted to keep acting as an adult, recalling, " Stanley was very influential in my life. At the time I got the part I was still in college and I was going to school to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had been a child actor and I thought it was time to grow up. I didn't really believe you could act for a living. Being in that film I realized how much you could do as an actor . . . He was the first person who said to me that I should continue to act."
After doubling down on her commitment to acting thanks to Eyes Wide Shut, Shaw appeared in dramas like Wayward Son (1999) and The Weight of Water (2000), as well as broad comedies like Corky Romano (2001) and 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002).
Some of her other films of this era included Melinda and Melinda and Bereft (both 2004) as well as the remakes of the horror movie The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and the Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007). She then earned acclaim for her performance in the 2008 independent romance film Two Lovers, in which she starred opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow .
What Vinessa Shaw has been up to lately
Since the '10s, Shaw has acted in films including Side Effects (2013), Cold in July (2014), Clinical (2017) and Family Blood (2018). She's also made a name for herself in TV, with recurring roles in Vegas (2012 to 2013), Those Who Kill (2014) and Ray Donovan (2014). Most recently, she was in the cast of the basketball drama series Swagger in 2023.
Shaw's recent films include The Blazing World, 12 Mighty Orphans and We Need to Do Something, all released in 2021, and she has a number of films in post-production. From Hocus Pocus teen icon to Eyes Wide Shut seductress to indie movie and TV mainstay, Vinessa Shaw has had a fascinating career.
This story was originally published October 16, 2024, 8:00 PM.
