It was an emotional moment for Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and the rest of the cast of Wicked when they shared their movie creation with fans for the first time.
“I think for both of us, it’s a bit of a dream to be able to do this in the first place, and then to be welcomed in that way with this thing that we love is just beyond our wildest dreams,” Erivo told ABC News Breakfast following the movie’s world premiere in Sydney on Sunday.
Cynthia Erivo (left) and Ariana Grande say it’s a dream to star in the movie adaptation of Wicked. (ABC News Breakfast)
For the uninitiated, they are talking about the film adaptation of one of the most successful musical theatre productions of all time.
Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked tells the story of two witches, Elphaba and Glinda, before and after the events of the much-loved novel and film versions of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
To say the movie adaptation has been eagerly, and sometimes anxiously, anticipated would be an understatement.
However, the cast is confident it will live up to expectations.
Jeff Goldblum takes on the role of The Wizard of Oz in the movie version of Wicked. (Supplied: Universal Pictures)
Connecting with an avid fanbase
Jeff Goldblum, who plays the role of The Wizard of Oz, says, “I believe that we won’t be contradicted if we say that the people who love that show will be … they might well be frightened because they don’t want to be disappointed … I think they’ll be thrilled.”
Goldblum’s castmates agree and say the film’s director, John M. Chu, is largely responsible for that.
In preparing to direct Wicked, John M. Chu extensively researched the lore of the stories surrounding the land of Oz. (Supplied: Universal Pictures)
“It just is a beautiful chance to get to know these women and this story on an even deeper level,” Grande says.
“We get to spend more time with the characters and get in there on the close-ups and see what’s really happening behind the eyes.
“And it’s just such an amazing experience. And John was the best leader in the world.”
Erivo and Jonathan Bailey, who plays Elphaba’s love interest Fiyero, both say Chu’s understanding of the lore behind the land of Oz is what fills the film with wonder.
“This is a film that is for every generation, which is so rare because the nods and the Easter eggs and the love of the original film of The Wizard of Oz is there,” Bailey says.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande performed every song live to camera during the filming of Wicked. (Supplied: Universal Pictures)
From the stage to the silver screen
Another thing the cast is proud of is the fact the songs in the film were performed live to camera.
Erivo, who plays the conflicted young witch Elphaba, believes it helped with playing into the emotions of the scene.
“It will be different every time. You get to feel what’s happening in the moment,” she says.
“And it’s hard to do that if you’re not doing that live.”
Grande adds, “It’s too emotional, and there’s too much playfulness. And also, we’re singers. We love to sing.”
It helps that many of the cast have been fans of the Broadway production for a long time, but interestingly, neither Erivo nor Grande have ever really tackled Wicked before.
“No, it’s funny because the only times we’ve ever sung Wicked publicly, she (Erivo) sang a Glinda song and I sang an Elphaba song,” laughs Grande, who plays Glinda the Good Witch.
“Loving them and being a fan of them is very different than living them and digging in in that way … it becomes so much more personal and really, it feels so different.”
In Wicked, Elphaba is treated as an ‘other’ and disdained by her fellow classmates. (Supplied: Universal Pictures)
Otherness and empathy
Central to Wicked’s story is the experience of feeling othered and trying to find one’s place in a world that doesn’t make space for difference.
“I think we all have an understanding of what it means to be different and othered,” Erivo says.
“I definitely know that feeling, and so to be able to connect my experiences with Elphaba felt really right.
“For those who feel othered, this was sort of a bit of a love letter to them as well.”
It’s an experience shared by several other cast members.
Bailey spoke of his early love for dance and the stigma that he faced as a young boy because of it.
“You go into school and, you know, you’re aware of what that means and what it signals to other people,” he says.
“I succumbed to a peer pressure, and I gave up and I did rugby instead. It’s taken me this long, but I’ve come back to it.”
Marissa Bode plays Elphaba’s sister Nessarose, and as a person living with disability, she also knows what discrimination feels like.
She says it means the world to have been authentically cast in Wicked and for others like her to hopefully follow in her footsteps.
“A lot of little kids and adults are going to be like, ‘Wow, not only is that me, but I can do that too’,” Bode says.
Marissa Bode says being authentically cast in Wicked means the world to her and for representation for people with disability. (Supplied: Universal Pictures)
For Grande, her character’s empathetic development over the course of the film is the solution to othering in Wicked and in reality.
“I just love that it’s really an invitation for people to consider the humanness on the other side of what they’re judging,” she says.
“Sometimes we don’t know the full story or the true story of something, and we can become really mean to people who don’t deserve it.
“And I think that’s a beautiful thing about this story. It challenges us to become more empathetic and more loving and see through a different lens.”
