Cynthia Erivo will be playing Elphaba in the Wicked movie, and she’s not taking the opportunity lightly. Erivo has already seen the musical multiple times, but she wants to get another viewing in before they start to officially film.
From Variety, the multi-talented actress shared her appreciation for Wicked, and gives an update on the movie.
“I’m relearning everything. I want to go and see it again. … When I get to New York at some point I’ll pop in and see the show again, that’ll be my fifth time.”
“We’re sort of at the beginning, we’re all having conversations about what we want, what we want to do, like the style of it. I spoke to Paul Tazewell, who’s our costume designer and just recently Oscar-nominated, and Jon [Chu] who is our director, who’s incredible, and we’re all sort of talking about how we want it to feel.”
Erivo said this at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, where she was nominated for her song “Stand Up,” from the 2019 film Harriet. She’s already won a Grammy and a Tony Award for The Color Purple, and now she’s bringing her all-star talents to the highly anticipated movie.
Wicked is one of the longest-running Broadway shows of all time, based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that pulls from The Wizard of Oz to focus on the relationship between the two witches. Erivo stars alongside singing sensation Ariana Grande, who’ll play Glinda, and the movie will be directed by John M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In The Heights).
Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West (or the misunderstood one), while her friend Glinda the Good Witch always looks on the bright side of things. Conflict between them arises because of their differing perspectives, but ultimately it’s a story of redemption and understanding.
Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel made the two roles famous, and it’s grown into a global hit. In their iteration, Chenoweth played Glinda and Menzel played Elphaba to great acclaim, and they’ve both continued to star in successful projects. Chenoweth has been in a string of hit shows like Ryan Murphy’s Glee and Apple TV’s Schmigadoon!, and Menzel stars in the massively popular Frozen films as the voice of Princess Elsa.
The Wicked movie’s been in development for nearly a decade, and there was a lengthy casting process that led to the casting of Erivo and Grande. Grande has already been given approval by her real-life fairy godmother, Kristen Chenoweth, who appeared as her “Battle Advisor” on season 21 of The Voice, and Erivo is well-known for her award-worthy work. If she gets an Academy Award nomination for Wicked and wins, she’d claim the coveted EGOT title.
The film is expected to begin production in June 2022 in the U.K. There currently isn’t a release date.
