Kunis: Oz film is Hamilton love letter

Mila Kunis says her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West in the new Oz film is a “love letter” to the original, played by Margaret Hamilton.

The actress plays Theodora in Oz the Great and Powerful alongside James Franco, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz.

Mila admits that the thought of being compared to late actress Margaret, who depicted an iconic Wicked Witch, was somewhat daunting.

“I’d be lying, if you told you that it wasn’t incredibly frightening because it is,” Mila told Collider.

“She was phenomenal and did create such an iconic character, for going on 80 years now, that is so associated with so many things, let alone Oz or Halloween or witches, in general, that I wasn’t going to touch it.”

The film serves as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and explores the adventures of James’s wizard who accidentally ends up in the magical land.

But Mila says she didn’t watch the 1939 classic before shooting the movie which is directed by Sam Raimi.

“I didn’t go there because there was no way of me ever doing it justice,” she explained. “So, this is the 21st century version of that.

“There’s a corset involved and her dress is a little tighter and she’s maybe not hunched over so much.

“But what she did will forever, in my mind, be the greatest witch of all time. It’s like a love letter to her, in a way.”