The casting is no longer a rumor. Kathryn Hahn has effectively confirmed herself as Mother Gothel in Disney’s live-action Tangled, and she did it without a formal press release.
Hahn recently posted to Instagram in direct collaboration with Disney Studios. Then she changed her Instagram handle to @MotherHahn. Studios do not partner on social posts with talent who are still in early talks, and actors do not rebrand their personal handles for roles they have not booked.
When Fantasy Land News first reported this story in January, Variety had Disney in talks with Hahn to join the already-announced cast of Teagan Croft as Rapunzel and Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider. Scarlett Johansson had been linked to Mother Gothel before scheduling conflicts with The Batman Part II ended those conversations. Hahn stepped into that space, and now the social activity from both her and Disney Studios makes the picture very clear.
The role fits her. Fresh off Agatha All Along on Disney Plus, Hahn has already shown she can play a villain who wraps cruelty in warmth and makes it convincing. Mother Gothel does exactly that. She raises Rapunzel not out of love but out of obsession with the girl’s magical hair, and she does it with smiles and lullabies. That kind of performance requires an actor who can make the audience feel the manipulation before they fully clock it. Hahn can do that.
Teagan Croft played Raven on DC’s Titans. Milo Manheim played Zed across the Zombies franchise on Disney+ and competed on Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Both brought name recognition from younger Disney audiences when the original casting was announced in January.
The original animated film came out on November 24, 2010. Walt Disney Animation Studios released Tangled with Mandy Moore voicing Rapunzel and Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider. The story follows a wanted bandit who hides in a tower and gets taken captive by a girl with 70 feet of magical golden hair, setting off an adventure neither of them planned. The film built a devoted following that has only grown in the years since, which is part of why this live-action version carries so much attention.
Disney has not set a release date. This article will be updated when a formal announcement comes.
