Kathryn Hahn has said her nude scene in the first episode of Agatha All Along was actually her idea.
The Marvel star reprises her role as Agatha Harkness in the new WandaVision spin-off, which premiered on Disney+ earlier this week.
In the first episode, Agatha is perturbed to wake up back in the suburb where most of WandaVision took place, and wanders out into the street nude in order to get answers about what’s gone on.
According to Variety, this marks the first time a woman’s bare bum has appeared in a Marvel project, and Kathryn told the outlet that she “came up with” the idea for the scene.
“I thought it was good to see her as stripped down, literally, as we possibly could, which spoke into her powerlessness at the present moment,” the three-time Emmy nominee explained.
She added: “[Agatha has] been stripped of all of her power at this point in the series. I mean, she really had nothing at that point, and so it became about illustrating that gap between that moment and her finding her power again.”
While Kathryn also confirmed to TV Line that she didn’t use a body double for the take, showrunner Jac Schaeffer explained more about how the scene came to be.
“In the script, the idea was that she would emerge from the spell naked because that’s very witchy, and she’s taken all of her sort of performative selves off, and we’re getting down to the real Agatha,” Jac said.
“But in the [original script], she realises where she is, and then she grabs a robe and goes outside. And Kathryn came to me, and she was like, ‘would Agatha stop to get a robe? I feel like she would go out there naked’.
“And Kathryn was so up for it, so I took it to Kevin [Feige, the president of Marvel Studios], and [the reaction] was mostly, ‘really?!’.”
Jac added: “I love it, because it is so firmly based in character, it is not exploitative, it’s not sexual, it is about this witch and what her priorities are. And in this moment, she needs answers, and she doesn’t care if she’s naked or not. So, yeah, it’s a point of pride for us.”
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney+, with more coming every Wednesday.
As well as Kathryn, the show boasts an impressive cast including Emmy nominee Aubrey Plaza, Heartstopper favourite Joe Locke and Broadway icon Patti LuPone.