Robin Tunney Loves That “The Craft ”‘Celebrated Girls That Were the Weirdos,’ Says She’s Still ‘So Proud’ 30 Years Later (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Robin Tunney reflects on The Craft‘s 30th anniversary and its celebration of female empowerment and friendship

• Tunney is proud that the film resonated with generations and inspired fans worldwide to embrace their individuality

• She shares how the movie’s themes connected with diverse audiences, including queer viewers, despite no explicit representation

“We are the weirdos, mister,” is one of the most iconic lines from the 1996 movie The Craft. 

Now, 30 years later, actress Robin Tunney still loves the fact that the film celebrated the “weirdos.” While catching up with PEOPLE at the MOCA Gala in Los Angeles on May 30, Tunney reflects on how the movie has withstood the test of time three decades later.

“I love the fact that The Craft celebrated girls that were the weirdos, and I still feel like a weirdo, and this idea of, like, being outside of the box and feeling like high school isn’t the place for you,” she says. “It’s about like female empowerment and friendship and it wasn’t about boys, it was about these girls who felt different than.”

In the film, Tunney’s character, Sarah, is the new girl in school and befriends a group of wannabe witches, all of whom have troubled backgrounds and are shunned by other students. The teens, however, found strength in going against the status quo.

In addition to Tunney, the 1996 cult classic starred Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Skeet Ulrich, Christine Taylor and Breckin Meyer. 

The 53-year-old notes that she is still “so proud to have been a part of it.”

“It’s like survived generations and like the people that it speaks to… it’s so funny, like, there’ll be men that come up, and they’re like, ‘The Craft made being a queer boy in high school like tolerable,’ and I was like, ‘There wasn’t a queer boy in it,'” she jokes. “And I love that because it was directed by a queer man, and somehow they felt it. And I feel like people can sense when filmmakers love them and see them in the storytelling.”

Tunney is especially glad the film has held up despite all the changes in the world of filmmaking and streaming.

“It’s weird because television is sort of ephemeral, and I think with streaming, even more so, it’s like something’s on and then where does it go? It goes into this kind of oblivion. And movies like both The Craft and Empire Records have sustained generations,” she shares.

“How many people have said that they called the corners and that they played light as a feather, stiff as a board because of that — and from other countries too,” she adds. “I’m just enormously proud of it, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of that movie.”

As for whether or not she still feels like a “weirdo” all these years later, Tunney tells PEOPLE, “For sure, and every time I’ve tried to play a role that wasn’t it just doesn’t really work.”

Read the original article on People