This child actress turned author and Reiki healer burst onto the screen three decades ago when she starred in one of Disney’s most popular Halloween movies to date — but 30 years after her iconic appearance, she’s turned her back on the spotlight to pursue a much more private life. .
Interestingly, the actress in question was not credited for years for her work on the Disney hit. Instead, another on-screen star was misidentified as the face behind her beloved movie persona.
Eventually, this starlet broke her silence and emerged as the real actress who starred alongside famous faces like Thora Birch and Sarah Jessica Parker in the cult film, though she failed to appear in the film’s recently released sequel.
Guess Who: Which woman really played the part of the girl who caused her brother to turn into a cat in the movie from 30 years ago?
It was Amanda Shepherd who starred in Hocus Pocus alongside Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Sean Murray.
Shepherd played Emily Binx, a 17th-century girl whom the witches lure and trick into drinking their life potion in the film’s prologue.
This causes her death and her brother who followed her to turn into an immortal cat who aids the film’s protagonist – Max Dennison – centuries later after he summons the witches again.
While Shepherd is the real actress who played Emily Binx, many outlets and even IMDb initially credited another woman named Jodie-Amy Rivera.
Rivera changed her identity to the Venetian princess and became one of the first celebrities on YouTube.
She told a radio DJ that she had a small part in the movie and the DJ had assumed it was Emily Binx.
Amanda Shepherd co-starred with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy in Hocus Pocus
Shepherd played Emily Binx, a 17th-century girl whom the witches lure to their cottage and trick into drinking their life potion in the film’s prologue
While Shepherd is the actual actress who played Emily Binx, many outlets and even IMDb initially credited another woman named Jodie-Amy Rivera – who only had a cameo in the movie.
Meanwhile, Rivera really just had a cameo role as one of the sleepwalking kids in the creepy Come Little Children spell.
She didn’t get a chance to correct him and the rumor spread from there.
“I remember people saying, ‘Oh, you’re Emily Binx,’ and I’d say, ‘No, that’s not me!'” she said as per E! News.
“It was funny, but not really because I was on Facebook and I saw these articles from Buzzfeed, for example, and I saw my face and it said, ‘Where are they now?’ but they were all wrong.’
The YouTuber got in touch with the real Emily Binx, Shepherd, in 2015 and discussed the confusion she’d had to clear up every Halloween.
“So I got a hold of her and talked to her on the phone the other day because every Halloween this turns into something,” Jodie-Amy shared Cosmopolitan.
“I explained to her what happened, and she was so understanding and very kind. She said, “Don’t worry, it’s been so long, I really don’t care.”‘
Fortunately, there was no bad blood on Shepherd’s side.
‘[The mix-up] It never really bothered me, but it bothered everyone around me,” Shepherd also told Cosmo in an interview.
“They’d say ‘Amanda, this girl from YouTube is trying to steal your identity!’ I would just laugh.”
When Jodie-Ann turned 23, she reinvented herself as the Venetian princess
She launched a YouTube channel and made parodies of songs and reenactments of pop culture events while wearing over-the-top wigs and makeup and became one of the first YouTube stars. One of her most popular parodies is Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face, Outer Space’
The 39-year-old has nearly 80,000 followers on Instagram, where she now identifies herself as a ‘housewife’
Shepherd has since clarified her identity on Instagram with the handle @the_real_emilybinx and shared that she also posts as Emily Binx from Hocus Pocus on Cameo.
While both women have been associated with the same role in Hocus Pocus, they have lived very different lives.
The fake Emily Binx, Jodie-Ann, was only nine years old when she played a background role in the movie.
When she turned 23, she reinvented herself as the Venetian princess.
She launched a YouTube channel and made parodies of songs and reenactments of pop culture events while wearing over-the-top wigs and makeup and became one of the first YouTube stars.
Her most popular videos are Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me, Just A Zombie’, Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face, Outer Space’ (60 million views) and Britney Spears’ ‘Womanizer’.
She was one of the first people to earn revenue through Google’s advertising program on the platform and even became the no. 1 subscribed YouTuber in the world from 2009 to 2010.
Though her YouTube is inactive, she still has 848,000 subscribers to this day.
The 39-year-old also has nearly 80,000 followers on Instagram, where she now identifies herself as a “housewife.”
Shepherd clarified her identity on Instagram with the @the_real_emilybinx handle and shared that she also posts as Hocus Pocus’ Emily Binx on Cameo
The 40-year-old also performs at conventions and events for Hocus Pocus fans, and has a Hocus Pocus tour with fellow castmates Doug Jones, Larry Bagby and Tobias Jelinek
Recently she has been delving into spiritual work using Reiki
She even released a book called Becoming Multidimensional
As for the real Emily Binx, Stephen, who initially chose to step out of the spotlight.
After losing the role of Interview with the Vampire, she left Hollywood to become a real estate agent in Malibu.
Years later, when her identity as the true Emily Binx was revealed, she launched a band called HEHE HAHA. However, that pursuit didn’t seem to last long.
The 40-year-old also performs at conventions and public events for Hocus Pocus fans.
She’s lined up for a Hocus Pocus tour with fellow castmates Doug Jones, Larry Bagby, and Tobias Jelinek.
She has recently delved into spiritual work using Reiki and has released a book titled Becoming Multidimensional.