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Hollywood’s Most Iconic Black Witch Is a Real Life Mystic
Rachel True from ‘The Craft’ opens up about her new tarot book and racism in the biz
When Rachel True auditioned to play Rochelle in 1996 cult classic The Craft, the role was written for a White teenager. True expressed interest in the part, and her agent refused to pursue it because she’s Black and was in her late twenties at the time (despite appearing much younger). So she hired new representation and auditioned anyway, booking the job alongside Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Robin Tunney as one of four dauntless teen witches attending an L.A. Catholic school.
The film was wildly successful; The Craft debuted at number one. Yet True, fourth billed in the movie, wasn’t invited on its press tour.
“I was excluded from The Craft publicity, which helped [my castmates] to get a higher profile,” True tells ZORA. “They did not put Black actors in the ‘star machine’ at that point.”
True’s experience is not unique, unfortunately. She is one of many Black actors in the world of fantasy and science fiction who don’t get full consideration by studios and audiences due to stereotypes and gatekeeping around what stories Black characters are allowed to tell. However, since The Craft originally debuted, other Black witches — especially on TV — have come to the forefront, bringing new life into the genre and enhancing what we all can expect from future offerings. Some of this is due to True.
Journalist Candice Frederick — who interviewed True about this erasure after she wasn’t invited to a reunion for The Craft — acknowledges how the iconic role resisted an objectifying pattern for Black actresses in horror during the ’90s.
“Rochelle came at a time when Black female characters in horror were too often considered peripheral to the plot or merely there to uplift the white female protagonist in peril,” Frederick explains. “True gave Rochelle a confident sense of belonging within the typically White witch narrative.”
