Major movie releases don’t come much bigger than Wicked.
The hit musical is dominating both the box office and the public conversation right now, with leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande receiving a wave of praise (and plenty of awards buzz) for their performances as Elphaba and Glinda.
If you’re anything like us, you’ll have spent every spare moment since that “to be continued...” teaser flashed up at the end of Defying Gravity consuming every bit of Wicked media there is to enjoy out there – which is hardly a difficult task, given how much is out there.
With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 22 of our favourite behind-the-scenes facts about how one of the most beloved stage musicals of the 21st century finally made its way to the big screen. And spoiler alert, it was no walk in the park (or, indeed, skip down the yellow brick road) to make it happen...
When it was originally conceived in its current form, Wicked was tipped to hit cinemas in December 2019, with Stephen Daldry (whose work includes Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader and numerous episodes of The Crown) slated to direct.
However, when this turned out not to be the case, it was actually Cats that was given Wicked’s release slot and… well… we all know how that turned out.
Once Jon M Chu signed on as director, filming got underway on the film in 2022, around the time it was announced it would be split into two.
It was an arduous shoot, though, and it hit even further delays when production was shut down due to the Hollywood strikes of 2023, with filming only officially coming to an end at the beginning of this year.
Days before Wicked hit cinemas, an unconfirmed story published by Page Six alleged that when Stephen Daldry was still at the helm, he had Lady Gaga in mind to play Elphaba, and even met with her several times with the hopes of “fleshing out the character”.
The Penguin star Cristin Milioti also confirmed she at one point auditioned to play the lead, while Nicole Scherzinger and Lea Michele were also named in the press as potential Elphaba performers in the media after the project was first announced
As for Glinda, Amanda Seyfried, Dove Cameron and Renée Rapp have all confirmed they auditioned for the part, while Oscar nominee and star of Everything Everywhere All At Once star Stephanie Hsu claimed she was invited for a meeting, but turned it down.
Both Nick and Joe Jonas Brothers also tried out for the role of Fiyero, with Page Six claiming that Shawn Mendes had been Stephen Daldry’s choice before he stepped away from the project.
Asked by the New York Times for her reaction to Ariana being cast, the British actor responded: “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with.”
In fact, Cynthia and Ariana never screen-tested together, with the latter telling the Express that the director already “just knew that it was going to work” between the two of them.
Cynthia told Graham Norton: “We only got together once we knew we were doing it. The first time we sang we realised our voices work so well together.”
Speaking on the Sentimental Men podcast, the Break Free singer recalled: “I had an inkling in my heart always that it was going to be Glinda, but I was hearing really mixed things from people who were like, ‘Oh, they maybe want you to read for both’.
“And I was like, I guess that’s because they don’t know what my voice is, and maybe they think vocally I might be better-suited for Elphaba. I secretly knew that I was only meant for Glinda.”
So, at her audition, Ariana performed not just a rendition of Popular, but also Defying Gravity and No Good Deed.
Director Jon M Chu later put this down to “mixed messaging”, as he’d always only ever considered Ariana for the role of Glinda.
“I was like, ‘Of course she’s coming in for Galinda.’ And then my casting director was like, ‘No, I think she thinks she’s coming in for Elphaba.’ I’m like, ‘That was not the plan.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, she prepped it’,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
Aside from the odd bit of computer trickery, the director was keen to avoid using CGI in the film, so built real sets to help create the land of Oz and relied heavily on practical effects.
Author Gregory Maguire told Broadway World before Wicked’s cinematic release: “Most of the film sets were built, and are there, and I toured them. I was in the Wizard’s throne room, I was in Madame Morrible’s study, I was in the forest, I was in the underground Ozdust Ballroom, and I saw several other sets beside that weren’t being used in the time that I was there.”
This included the planting of more than nine million tulips to help set the scene, the construction of an enormous green train to take Elphaba and Glinda to the Emerald City and, of course, the laying down of a real yellow brick road.
“We knew that we wanted Wicked to be immersive,” Jon said. “What does it feel like to be in Oz? To feel it in your fingertips? If you want to be inside that world, you’ve got to build it. You’ve got to build Emerald City. You’ve got to build Munchkinland.”
Jon told Vanity Fair in March: “These are live vocals. When we were shooting it, those girls were like, ‘Fuck the pre-records. We’re going live.’”
When he expressed concerns, the duo apparently told him simply: “Yeah. That’s what we do.”
“They are the best singers in the world, so every song, they have been singing live,” Jon shared in a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Cynthia added: “We chose to sing live, because it meant that we were more connected to the words we were saying – and to each other.”
Ariana agreed that it was a “no-brainer” for herself and Cynthia to perform their vocals live on set.
“It took a lot of training,” she admitted to Graham Norton. “Normally when you sing a big song, you are grounded by the floor beneath you.
“But in a harness and a corset you have to find where the breath needs to be. It took a lot of physical and psychological tricks.”
“It’s a really strange sensation because I have to shift the way I breathe in order to sing,” Cynthia added in a video filmed on set.
“And as for the physical flying of it all, once all is said and done, you’re now flying with a corset, and a harness, and songs, and when it works, it really does feel like magic.”
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Cynthia recalled: “[It took] two hours and 45 minutes to three hours if it was just head, neck, hands. If it was the whole body, that was, like, four hours.”
The process of finding the ideal hue to bring Elphaba to life took multiple “green tests”, too, with the ideal shade actually having “highlighter yellow” undertones.
“On brown, it reads like skin,” she said of the bespoke shade, which makeup artist David Stoneman christened “Cynthia green”.
Cynthia also shaved her head for the role, meaning makeup could be applied to her whole head, which allowed her scalp to still appear green underneath her Elphaba wigs.
The production team got around Cynthia’s many piercings by creating bespoke ear prosthetics for her – which somehow now belong to Ariana Grande.
“I’ll put them out with food or something, just to confuse people,” Ariana joked to Cynthia during a group interview for British Vogue. “To see if they think it’s, like, a croissant, and then it’s your ear.”
The idea to give Elphaba microbraids in the film was actually Cynthia’s suggestion.
She told The British Blacklist: “I know the hair that Elphaba has on stage, which is long and black and sort of wavy, and I loved the effect of that, but I wanted to make it more authentic to me.
“So I asked if we could have microbraids, because with microbraids, we could still have the wave in it and that flow, but it’s connected. I needed it to be connected to me as a Black woman.”
@britblacklist Cynthia Erivo Talks … Wicked and Elphaba’s Micro-Braids Multi-award winning actress Cynthia Erivo takes on her biggest role to date as 'Elphaba' in Wicked the Move (part 1) We discuss how proud she is of this role and the importance of accurate hair representation, and which songs she struggled with ... Wicked is in UK cinemas Now #ArianaGrande#CynthiaErivo
♬ Defying Gravity - Instrumental - Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia brought in her hairstylist from the Luther movie, Sim Camps, to help create Elphaba’s look for the movie.
Sim wrote on Instagram: “Not only did [Cynthia] fully embrace everything about being Elphaba, but she also got her hands dirty behind the scenes. She’d de-rig her own wig and prosthetic ears, give airbrushing her green makeup on her hands a try, and even had a go with the camera!
“Cynthia wasn’t just playing the part – she was involved in every aspect, making sure Elphaba came to life in every way she could.”
The Bridgerton heartthrob was actually filming the Netflix period drama at the same time as Wicked and his hit miniseries Fellow Travelers – which it’s fair to say put his hair through the wringer.
Speaking to Naomi Watts for Variety’s Actors On Actors series, he shared: “I went on holiday, and my hair looked like coral – as in, it was underwater, just floating around.”
Asked how he had any hair left at the end of the three projects, Jonathan admitted: “I had a big old toupée! That’s a big spoiler alert, but yeah, it’s a toupée. I’m in the choreography so it’s flapping about!”
The role of Fiyero also required Jonathan to wear blue contacts – for reasons he has insisted will become more apparent in the Wicked sequel.
@cinemablend Jonathan Bailey teases the reason for Fiyero’s blue eyes will be revealed in a certain “Wicked Part 2” duet and it will be “worth it” ???? #jonathanbailey#wicked#wickedmovie#fiyero#elphaba#aslongasyouremine#movies#musical#celebrityinterview
♬ original sound - cinemablend
In fact, the horse that Jonathan rides in character as Fieryo was one he’d already appeared with in Bridgerton.
“People say, don’t work with kids and animals. But if it’s Jack, I’d say, ‘Take the job. He’s a legend’,” he joked.
@wickedmovie Jonathan and Jack go way back. ???? #WickedMovie
♬ original sound - Wicked Movie - Wicked Movie
“When I got it, I said, ‘Jon, it’s a musical. I don’t sing’,” the Everything Everywhere All At Once Star told Us Weekly. “You know, not like Cynthia and Ariana — they are the real deal.”
She continued: “Before I could even react quick enough, I get this video from Jon and he says, ‘Hi Michelle, I have someone who really wants to talk to you’. [He] swings [the phone] around. It was Ariana and Cynthia going, ‘Hi, Michelle, it is imperative that you join us now’. It was so sweet of them.”
In fact, Cynthia was also encouraging when it came to Michelle’s nerves about singing live on set.
“Can you imagine you have to lead the song for Cynthia. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be embarrassing as hell’,” she claimed.
“[But Cynthia] was like, ‘Michelle, I’ve heard you sing. Just let it out. You can do it. I know you can.’ And so we had fun’.”
She received quite the hero’s welcome when she returned to set after the ceremony last year with her award in hand…
They are featured in the original Wicked novel, though, in which Pfannee is depicted as a female character.
In fact, it was Ariana who fought for Bowen Yang to get the part, even going as far as calling Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels to make sure the comedian could juggle both jobs, which were filmed on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Bowen told Today: “Lorne, within reason, was like, ‘you can’t miss shows, I’m so sorry’. And I was like, ‘I totally get it’, and mourned that loss. But then Ari picked up the phone – and he kind of was like, ‘OK’, because they have such a beautiful relationship with each other. I can’t believe it happened!’”
“It was a bit of a lonely process, recording in a sound booth apart from the rest of the cast,” he admitted. “But it’s such an honour to be part of something this universally loved and amazingly creative.”
Oz’s animals are one of the few times CGI was used in the film, including Peter’s character.
And while stand-ins were used for the actors to react to on set, motion capture wasn’t used, meaning Peter himself wasn’t required to be there in person.
Aside from the new section of One Short Day – performed in the movie by Wicked OGs Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth – there are no new additions to the movie’s soundtrack.
At least, for now.
Jeff Goldblum confirmed to Capital that the Wicked sequel has “a couple of new songs” written by the musical’s original composer Stephen Schwartz.
In fact, all of Wicked’s surprise cameos take place during the One Short Day sequence.
As well as Idina and Kristen, Vulture noted that Winnie Holzman (who wrote the original book of the Wicked musical) is cut to during the big number, while Stephen Schwartz delivers the iconic line: “The wizard will see you now!”
When the film was first being put together, Stephen Schwartz had the idea to “refresh” some of Wicked’s songs, including Popular.
Apparently, his idea was to “hip-hop it up a little bit”, but Ariana quickly put the kabosh on this.
“Ariana said, ‘Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda’,” the Oscar winner told the LA Times.
The lines “I’ve always wanted to see the Emerald City” and “Elphie, come on, we’ll be late for Wizomania!” are both included on the Broadway soundtrack recording of One Short Day, and have become favourites of Wicked fans across the last two decades.
Speaking to Variety, Wicked’s director explained: “When you don’t have a live audience to play off, some of the comedy doesn’t quite work.”
Sharing how Wicked superfan Ariana reacted when she heard he’d intended to cut the line “the Wizard will see you now!” from One Short Day, Jon revealed: “Ari was like, ‘I promise you, we have to have it’. So I was like, ‘OK, let me figure it out’.
“There were debates all the time,” the Crazy Rich Asians director continued.
“In the beginning, when Glinda says ‘It’s good to see me, isn’t it?’, in the show she says, ‘No need to answer. That’s rhetorical’. But in the movie when she said the line, the joke didn’t land. Not because of the way she performed it. But because there’s no audience to give the feedback for it.
“We put fake Ozian reactions, but it was too meta, too early. That was a scary one to cut because it’s like a Bible line.”
Other lines were added into the mix, too, many of which allude to future events in the Wicked sequel (Elphaba’s call for Fieryo to “get stuffed” being one such example), while a short subplot about Elphaba discovering her powers as a young girl was also included.
Glinda’s brilliantly-delivered “I’m coming” to Elphaba as she joined her on the train to Emerald City was actually all Ariana Grande’s idea in the moment, while their matching dance moves in the mirror during Popular was something they came up with together.
Many of Pfannee and Shenshen’s asides were also improvised by Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James on the set of Wicked.
Before what is widely considered her “debut single” The Way came out, Ariana teamed up with Mika on this 2012 cut, which made it to number 87 in the US.
Watch the Popular Song music video for yourself below:
Wicked is in cinemas now.
