Ever since being added to Saturday Night Live in 2012, Kate McKinnon as slowly become one of Hollywood's top comedic actresses, notable for her impressions and generally absurd roles. This year, however, she made her biggest cinematic appearance yet as Jillian Holtzmann in the new Ghostbusters. Now it's being reported that she's finally scored her first leading movie role in a comedy titled The Lunch Witch.
Based off the YA graphic novel by Deb Lucke, Deadline states that Kate McKinnon will play the movie's eponymous character, Grunhilda. Clay Kaytis will direct the feature being adapted by Amblin Entertainment, making this his live action directing debut, while Michael de Luca is attached as a producer.
In The Lunch Witch, Grunhilda is the latest in a long line of witches who have "stirred up trouble in a big, black pot." However, nowadays no one believes in magic anymore, so despite inheriting her family's cauldron and recipes, Grunhilda has only found work as a lunch lady. This position is the best way for her to get in her scare quota, but she eventually finds a kindred spirit in a young girl name Madison, who is falling behind in school and doesn't fit in with her classmates. Grunhilda will soon find herself wanting to help Madison, even though helping others goes against everything she believes in as a witch. The original graphic novel was followed by Lunch Witch 2: Knee-Deep in Niceness, which could be made into a sequel should the first movie prove successful.
While I've never read The Lunch Witch, this kind of role definitely sounds like it's in Kate McKinnon's wheelhouse. She's often at her best on The Lunch Witch when she's playing the more bizarre and unconventional characters. Playing a witch putting her magical skills to work freaking out children in a cafeteria certainly falls into those categories. The Lunch Witch will also surely introduce McKinnon to many younger moviegoers who aren't old enough to watch her usual material, allowing them to enjoy her comedic chops.
2016 was a good year for Kate McKinnon's career. Aside from Ghostbusters and her Saturday Night Live work, she also voiced Stella/Eva in The Angry Birds Movie, the Wife Fish in Finding Dory and Hettie in The Simpsons episode "Gal of Constant Sorrow." She also appeared in Masterminds as Jandice and can be seen this Friday in Office Christmas Party as Mary Winetoss. As the icing to this proverbial cake, she also won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her Saturday Night Live appearances.
We'll keep you apprised on how Kate McKinnon's The Lunch Witch movie is progressing as more relevant details are released. Let us know what you think of the actress finally getting a leading role in a movie in the comments below.
