The voice cast of Bad Fairies just got a lot more star power. Kylie Minogue, Jonathan Groff and Catherine Tate have joined Cynthia Erivo in the Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation musical comedy, Variety and Deadline report, after Erivo broke the news herself on stage at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday night, October 15.
Bad Fairies: the quick answers
New cast members: Kylie Minogue as Clowder the Cat Witch, Jonathan Groff as Robin Goodfellow and Catherine Tate as the Fairy Gothmother.
Lead: Cynthia Erivo voices Jayne Staplegun, one of a gang of delightfully defiant, rule-breaking fairies.
Release date: May 21, 2027, in theaters, per the official announcement.
How it was announced: live during Erivo’s one-night-only Hollywood Bowl concert “Let Me Sing to You,” with Minogue surprised in the audience.
Also in the cast: Serrana Su-Ling Bliss as Fei Chang, James Acaster as Stickers, Dee Bradley Baker as Groundbeef and Ncuti Gatwa as Butterwort.
Who is making it: directed by Megan Nicole Dong, co-directed by Olivier Staphylas, from an original screenplay by Deborah Frances-White.
How the announcement happened
Erivo used her own concert as the reveal. The second half of Thursday’s Hollywood Bowl show opened with an orchestral piece built on “Hard to Believe,” Jayne’s song from the film, before she introduced Groff and Tate to the crowd. Then came the final surprise: Minogue, seated in the audience, was announced as the newest member of the cast, per the official release.
“Bad Fairies is about characters who break the rules to do some good, and Cynthia brings that spirit to everything she does, so there was no better way to share this news than from the Hollywood Bowl stage in her voice,” Bill Damaschke, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, said in a statement. Locksmith Animation CEO Natalie Fischer called Erivo’s voice “the soul of this film since she came on board.”
Minogue, a two-time Grammy winner, is leaning into the chaos of her character. “Getting to play both a cat and a witch? It’s a little bit magical, a little bit mischievous and a whole lot of fun,” she said. Director Megan Nicole Dong said Clowder needed to be “impossibly glamorous and hilariously chaotic in the same breath,” adding that Minogue “was always the dream.”
What this means for readers and fans
Mark the calendar: Bad Fairies opens May 21, 2027. It is the first feature under the first-look deal between Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation, so its rollout will set the template for what that partnership becomes.
Expect a real songbook: original songs come from Tony winners Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the duo behind Six: The Musical, with a score by Isabella “Machine” Summers of Florence and the Machine. Ian Eisendrath, music producer on KPop Demon Hunters, is executive music producer. The first tease, “Hard to Believe,” has already been heard in orchestral form at the Bowl.
A theater-first cast: Erivo is an Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner and three-time Oscar nominee; Groff won the 2024 Tony for Merrily We Roll Along and originated King George III in Hamilton. The casting pattern signals the film is being built around genuine musical performers, not stunt voices.
Watch for Tate: best known for The Catherine Tate Show, Doctor Who and The Office, she plays the Fairy Gothmother, a character the co-director says benefits from there being “no one funnier” for the job.
How Bad Fairies got here: the story so far
Earlier reveals: Erivo was attached to lead as Jayne Staplegun, with Serrana Su-Ling Bliss, James Acaster, Dee Bradley Baker and Ncuti Gatwa previously announced in supporting voice roles.
Now in production: the film is currently in production in London, with DNEG Animation serving as digital partner.
October 15, 2026: Minogue, Groff and Tate are announced live at the Hollywood Bowl.
May 21, 2027: Bad Fairies debuts theatrically via Warner Bros. Pictures.
Why this cast is a statement
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is still defining itself as a theatrical brand, and Bad Fairies is the clearest look yet at its strategy: original musical comedy built by theater people. Pairing the Six songwriters with Florence and the Machine’s Summers and KPop Demon Hunters’ Eisendrath stacks three distinct music pedigrees on one film, per Deadline’s production notes. Casting Minogue as a glamorous cat witch opposite Erivo, one of the defining stage voices of her generation, suggests the studio wants personality-driven performances rather than safe celebrity reads. With production already underway in London and a full year and a half of runway, expect the songbook, not the plot, to be the next thing teased.
