'Wicked' Director Reveals Why He Considered Casting Other Actresses for Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo's Parts
Wicked director Jon M. Chu opened up about one of the challenges that he faced when it was time to cast the big-screen adaptation of the musical.
The first part of the theatrical saga premieres on November 22 starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively.
Fans are looking forward to seeing the pop star and Broadway actress bring the iconic characters to life. However, in a recent interview, Jon explained that he initially considered a very different direction for casting.
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Speaking to SFX Magazine, Jon said that he was tempted to cast unknown actors in the movie.
“I wanted to have a very clear slate coming into Wicked,” he said. “It’s a big enough property on its own, so we can discover two people. I was like, ‘We’re gonna find no-namers.’”
What changed? “But then we got calls from all these great actresses who wanted to audition and we saw everybody, and they were all really great. Anyone could have done this role, except there were two people who were meant to do this role, for this particular movie at this particular time.”
If you missed it, the actresses recently apologized for getting so emotional on the movie’s press tour.