Omri Katz, the Teenage Star of 'Hocus Pocus,' Looks Unrecognizable Decades After Max Dennison — Photos

The teenager who survived one unforgettable Halloween vanished from Hollywood years ago, and time has since worked a transformation powerful enough to rival anything in the Sanderson sisters' spellbook.

Omri Katz was 17 when he played Max Dennison in Disney's 1993 film "Hocus Pocus," helping create a character who still reappears in living rooms every October. More than three decades later, the former child star has traded Max's floppy hair and anxious expressions for an adult appearance so different that some viewers may need a moment to recognize him.

Before he lit the Black Flame Candle, Omri had already spent years in front of cameras. His acting career began when he was a child, leaving him with a résumé that stretched well beyond Salem.

He became known for playing John Ross Ewing III on the hit television series "Dallas," which originally premiered in 1978. Omri later starred in the wonderfully strange "Eerie, Indiana" and appeared in movies including "Adventures in Dinosaur City."

His family life also reached across two countries. Omri's parents, Yoram Katz and Rina Katz, are Israeli, and he has two older siblings, Michael Katz and Lali Katz.

According to his biography, Omri lived in Israel during part of his youth. That international upbringing would eventually become particularly relevant after he decided that Hollywood's charms no longer held the same power over him.

Yet it was "Hocus Pocus" that permanently sealed his place in pop culture. Max was the skeptical California teenager who moved to Salem, dismissed its supernatural legends and then discovered that the town's witches were alarmingly real.

The movie was filmed partly in Salem, Massachusetts, where the production spent two weeks in October 1992. Several more months of work followed on California soundstages before the film arrived in theaters in July 1993.

Its first run was hardly magical. "Hocus Pocus" failed to impress critics or summon enormous ticket sales, but repeated broadcasts on the Disney Channel and later ABC Family, now Freeform, allowed a younger audience to discover it.

Annual Halloween viewings slowly accomplished what its theatrical release could not. The movie escaped the limits of a cult favorite and became a seasonal tradition passed between generations, with Omri's teenage face preserved at the center of the chaos.

Those familiar features, however, belong to a chapter that closed long ago. Recent photographs show a fully grown Omri with a rugged, mature look, worlds away from the fresh-faced boy who raced through Salem trying to stop three witches before sunrise.

The difference is especially striking because Omri largely disappeared from mainstream entertainment rather than aging continuously in public. His transformation unfolded away from premieres and television screens, meaning admirers went from remembering teenage Max to suddenly seeing the man he became.

Thirty years after filming in Salem, Omri returned to the Massachusetts town on October 22, 2022. It was his first visit since the production, giving the occasion a full-circle quality that even Winifred Sanderson might have appreciated.

The Horror Squad Podcast presented the event, which included a meet-and-greet at Silver Moon Comics and a sold-out "Hocus Pocus" screening at Cinema Salem. Fans kept Omri busy for more than four hours before he joined a question-and-answer session.

His memories of 1993 were not limited to broomsticks and ancient curses. That same year, he appeared in "Matinee" alongside John Goodman and Cathy Moriarty after previously working with director Joe Dante on "Eerie, Indiana."

Omri recalled the experience warmly in a 2022 interview. "We had a great time in Florida for two months. I went from Eerie to Matinee, so I had already worked with Joe."

The established cast made a powerful impression on the young performer. "I'd say John Goodman is one of the most professional actors that I've witnessed working. He was very critical of his performances. He always wanted to do better. Cathy Moriarty was sweet, very humble. I'd seen Raging Bull, and I couldn't believe I was working with her."

Even with those extraordinary experiences, Omri eventually realized he wanted a life beyond acting. Growing up in the industry had given him opportunities, but it had also denied him some of the ordinary experiences available outside Hollywood's carefully controlled bubble.

"I grew up in the industry, so that's kind of all I knew," he explained. "I think I was soul searching and wanted more of a human experience; just see what else is out there, see the world, and be normal. I didn't really have that growing up."

Omri used the money he had earned from acting to travel, surf, and snowboard. The decision allowed him to explore adulthood without auditions controlling where he went next.

When he eventually returned to Los Angeles, he briefly considered acting again, although his motives were more practical than artistic. "I wanted to get back into acting for all the wrong reasons, to make money so I could escape again, and that didn't work out too well. I had to get a real job, the first one in my life!"

That first taste of ordinary employment led him into hairdressing, a career he enjoyed for a time. In 2002, he began pursuing another interest that could never have appeared on Max Dennison's teenage résumé: cannabis.

Omri established his own brand, The Mary Danksters, and described the difficulties of building the venture while following legal requirements. "Obviously I had to be discreet, stay under the radar, but I've been doing it ever since. We're doing everything the legal way, and I'm really excited to see where this industry takes me."

His personal world changed along with his career. Omri has shared photographs with his partner, Michelle Watters, on Instagram, offering another glimpse of the quiet adult life that emerged after he left regular acting behind.

Omri was absent from "Hocus Pocus 2," as were original co-stars Thora Birch and Vinessa Shaw. Although he would have welcomed an invitation to return, he still watched the long-awaited sequel and offered an enchantingly blunt assessment.

"It was palatable. At first glance, I was kind of disappointed. I watched like 30 minutes of it and fell asleep, but then I watched the rest of it and surprisingly enjoyed it."

Omri believed the sequel lacked certain ingredients from the original, though he praised the witches and welcomed the franchise's continuation. He also left the crypt door open for another appearance, saying he would be grateful if Disney brought the original younger cast back for a different story.

As for the first movie's extraordinary staying power, Omri credited more than its spooky mischief. "I think part of it is the witches; people love the spirit that they brought to it. Digging a little deeper, there's this human relationship aspect to it that feels really heartwarming and touched a lot of people."

That connection has kept Max young on screen, even while Omri built an entirely different existence beyond it. The photos of his change trace that passage more vividly than words can, from a child actor finding his footing, to Salem's reluctant teenage hero, and finally to the almost unrecognizable man living well outside Hollywood's spell today.

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