Stockard Channing broke her two-year red-carpet drought at the “Practical Magic 2” European premiere in London.
The 82-year-old actress, who had not appeared at a major public event since 2023, stepped out Tuesday in a tailored midnight blue suit paired with a cream-colored blouse. She styled her brunette hair in soft waves and accessorized with a dramatic lariat chain necklace and duster earrings.
Channing was joined at the event by co-stars including Sandra Bullock, 60, Nicole Kidman, 57, Joey King, 25, Maisie Williams, 28, and Dianne Wiest, 76. At one point, she wrapped her arm around Wiest for an affectionate photo.
The rare appearance came just weeks after Channing described herself as “happy being a recluse” in a Sunday Times essay published earlier this month. She wrote that since the 2014 death of her partner, cinematographer Daniel Gillham, at age 58, she has “lived alone” outside Hollywood.
Channing wrote that the loss after 25 years with Gillham was “more devastating than” she’d realized, and that mourning the loss “shifted … the pattern [of her] life.”
The “West Wing” alum ultimately sold her Los Angeles home and moved to London in 2019, where she takes things slowly and wears non-designer clothing.
“Pottering is my meditation; moving things from that pile to that pile,” she said in the essay, joking that “At my age, life is guided by bodily functions.”
Channing, who was married and divorced four times prior to her romance with Gillham, also explained that her movies all “take [her] back to a particular time,” acknowledging a career spanning nearly six decades.
“Different age groups recognize me from different characters,” she explained. “For younger girls it’s ‘Practical Magic,’ for grown-ups it’s ‘The West Wing,’ and for real grown-ups it’s ‘Grease.'”
And though she directed a show in Edinburgh this year on top of appearing in the sequel to 1998’s original “Practical Magic,” the actress said she wasn’t sure she’d “do anything” after that.
“Acting is like everything in life; you never know what’s going to happen,” she quipped.
In the viral moment that has sustained her cultural relevance across generations, Channing originated the role of Rizzo in the 1978 film “Grease,” a performance that cemented her status for older fans. She later won an Emmy for her work on “The West Wing” and earned a devoted following among younger viewers through the original “Practical Magic,” where she played Aunt Frances alongside Kidman and Bullock.
Channing admitted in a 2020 interview that “Practical Magic” has been a “favorite for a lot of people” over the years. She also recalled that the working relationship with Kidman and Bullock was “congenial” and “playful.”
“Both Nic and Sandy were enormously warm,” she recalled in an interview with Vulture at the time. “Sandy is very, very funny and smart, and Nic was just lovely. It was a very, very congenial time, and all that coven-y thing of running around.”
“Practical Magic 2” is scheduled for release later this year.