'Wicked' Producer Reveals 1 Big Cameo Initially Turned Down the Role & How He Convinced Them to Appear
WARNING: This post contains “Wicked” Spoilers – Read at your own risk!!
It’s been a week since the first Wicked movie officially debuted in theaters and we’re learning more behind-the-scenes tea.
If you missed it, or haven’t heard, there are two big cameos in the musical film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical.
However, in a recent interview, producer Marc Platt revealed that one of those actors was quite hesitant to join at first and how he convinced them to do it.
Spoilers ahead!
Keep reading to find out more…
During the “One Short Day” musical number, original Wicked Broadway stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel appear and even perform!
While Kristin was fully on board, Idina was the one who hesitated at first.
“I think when Kristin and Idina came onto the set, there was so much love and respect from the movie cast, particularly Ari [Grande] and Cynthia [Erivo] and Jon Chu — almost like they were royalty! They had grown up listening to these two women sing, and you felt that sense of awe, and also legacy,” Marc told Variety. “And then Kristin and Idina, were equally, in awe of these two younger women making these roles their own.”
“Both the girls, Kristin and Idina, were a little bit nervous about it. Kristin jumped in pretty quick, because she and Ari had had a relationship and she was excited,” he said, adding Idina “didn’t want to rain on anything that had to do with Cynthia. She thought, ‘This is her moment. I want her to have her moment.’”
So, how did he convince them to take part in the movie??
“I said, ‘Both of you are going to want to touch the film. You’re part of the Wicked lore forever,’” he shared. “And because we found an organic way which Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman wrote to have them in the film as part of the storytelling, ‘You’re going to want to be part of something that’s bigger than you, and so for the rest of your lives, you’ll always be part of Wicked, even in the film.’ And they both said, ‘Okay, you’re right.’”
“I think all of us joining arms felt like there’s something bigger than all of us, and that we are part of something that may live on beyond all of us,” he says. “The ability to join those two worlds, the stage world of the original and the film world, particularly for those four girls, was something no one will ever forget who witnessed that night of shooting. It was really beautiful.”
The musical’s composer Stephen Schwartz and the movie/stage show’s writer Winnie Holzman both also make cameos during “One Short Day.” Stephen is the guard who says, “The Wizard will see you now,” at the end of the number.
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