Mad Men women inspired Kiernan Shipka’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina performance

Kiernan Shipka found inspiration for Sabrina from the real women in her life, including actresses she worked with on Mad Men.

In the 1990s, Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a show that many of us watched to escape from reality. Imagining yourself as a witch with magical powers to help you take on the struggles of high school was a great way to deal with the problems in your own life.

In the Netflix spinoff, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the tone of the story is quite different. Sabrina Spellman in the series is a more modern, tough, feminist version of the character who goes up against what is expected of her.

Kiernan Shipka plays Sabrina in this new show, and she spoke with Hello Giggles about the character and how she took on the role. Shipka says that she even got into the Sabrina mindset researching witches, seeing a medium, and picking up some mystical crystals.

Aside from witchy inspiration, Shipka says she prepared for her role by thinking of incredible women who have influenced her.

“Women inspire me left and right, all over the board. I feel like I’m definitely the witchiest of my family, as far as being more holistic in nature and my approach to life and healing,” the 18-year-old actress said.

We love that Shipka found inspiration for her role as Sabrina by being inspired by real-life women, because as awesome as witches are, there are plenty of non-magical females we all should be able to draw positivity from.

She continued, “Connecting with that spiritual side of things is something that I find really wonderful and beautiful.”

Shipka also explained how working with the actresses on Mad Men inspired her and gave her examples of strong women. On the show, she played Don Draper’s daughter Sally, and speaking with Hello Giggles, Shipka explained how there were plenty of women on set to look up to.

“I definitely have a lot of women in my life that have supported me and helped me come into my own. Even just growing up on a show like Mad Men, watching women at work, playing characters that were multidimensional — I grew up in a feminist environment. It’s made me who I am.”

If you can’t wait to see the new version of Sabrina, you don’t have to wait much longer. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes to Netflix on October 26.