When Wicked director Jon M. Chu called up Michelle Yeoh — after the two previously collaborated on 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians — for a major role in the musical adaptation, the star admits she had a few questions.
At the film‘s Los Angeles premiere on Saturday, Yeoh remembered how Chu had asked her to read the script with an eye to play Madame Morrible, “and I at that point had no clue what he was talking about because I had not seen Wicked the musical before. I knew Wizard of Oz, who doesn’t, but not Wicked, because I hadn’t been going to the theaters and not doing what I love which is watching musicals, for quite a while I hate to say.”
Wicked — which has been a Broadway hit for the last two decades — serves as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) while at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. Madame Morrible is a headmistress at the school and serves as Elphaba’s mentor.
“So I read it and called Jon back and said, ‘This is a musical and she sings.’ And he said, ‘Oh easy, you’ll have fun, you’re up for the challenge,” the actress continued. “And then the next thing I knew I get this video call and it was him with Ariana and Cynthia saying, ‘It’s imperative you come and join us now.’”
“I was terrified, I was not just nervous,” Yeoh said of singing in the film, but after working with a coach, “the process of exercising, learning to use the muscles in a different way, was actually very, very good for me because it helps with my voice as an actor. So I had fun.”
Yeoh also sang Erivo’s and Grande’s praises, calling them “the ying and yang; they’re so different but at the same time they just fit together with love and great energy.”
Jeff Goldblum, who plays the Wizard of Oz, warned “you’re going to make me cry now for real” when talking about the duo, crowning them as “two of the greats of all time and in these parts and together, performances for the ages. Being next to them, in the flesh, and hearing them sing, I’ll never be the same. It’s a religious, spiritual experience.”
Goldbum also weighed in on premiering this movie just days after the election when tensions are still high, calling it, “a joyful movie and a movie that has some important ideas.”
“In this movie, even though it’s rollicking entertainment, it’s about the yearning for a world that works for everyone and for every single creature; and then a story about some underdogs and some members of the potential opposition who come together and form an alliance that may be the element that allows for the critical mass to appear that turns the whole ship of state, politically, culturally, spiritually, in another direction,” he added. “So it’s a story for our time, it’s a story of great hope and relevance, I do believe.”
As Grande and Erivo walked the carpet alongside Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, who originated the roles on Broadway, one key person missing at the premiere was the director himself. Inside the screening, Chu revealed via video message that he was in the hospital with his wife awaiting the birth of his fifth child.
“I was at the hotel across the street ready to come; my whole family is there, my friends, all our loved ones are there,” he explained. “I’ve waited for three years to have this moment and share our movie with you, but I’ve waited my whole life to have this moment, to have our fifth child, right now. Of course, this little girl knows when to show up on premiere day.” After the screening, Chu was able to make a quick appearance at the afterparty for a moment with his cast.
Wicked part one will hit theaters on Nov. 22.