EXCLUSIVE:Jon M. Chulearned to use his power in the right way just asCynthia Erivos Elphaba does inWicked.
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After all, he asserts, Im protecting them in my mind.
(L-R) Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba with ‘Wicked’ director Jon M. Chu and Ariana Grande as GlindaSophy Holland/ Universal Pictures
You have gold in your hands.
This is cinema legacy.
We have to do this right for you.
From left: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the ‘Wicked’ set with Jon M. ChuGiles Keyte/Universal Pictures
Im doing this for you.
Yes, were spending all that money.
… Its a huge undertaking, thousands of hands.
Thousands of human hands, not computer hands.
Computer helps in VFX and all things, but this film is not generated by VFX.
And yes, youre right, its hard to control that.
And its so easy to be enamored by 120 percent.
Yes, more music, yes more effects, yes, more this and that.
I think casting Cynthia just is probably the smartest thing I ever did in my life, Chu says.
And those dreams were also crushed, whether its at drama school or elsewhere.
He pleads: Where are the parts?
Erivo powers the tale with her extraordinary performance.
Her Black skin adds another dimension.
I wasnt able to scratch beneath the surface.
I was just out to enjoy a great big Broadway show with two show-stopping stars.
Also, I couldnthearthe lyrics.
I could make out every third word.
Musicals can be very subversive, Chu says.
They can tell you about the world if youre willing to listen.
They dont even know.
They know what wecre doing inside this movie right now.
And it felt we were co-conspirators, with Ari of course, to take a stab at…
Signing Erivo was both a coup and subversive.
How lucky are we?
Stephen Schwartzs songs sure do soar in this film, and golly, a 100-piece orchestra is beyond joyous.
Musicals are, primarily, an American art form.
No offense to the version shown on Disney+, but that was just a recording of the stage show.
I wanna see it as a movie.
As with all shows and movies, you see what you believe.
Chu says that Schwartz and Holzman have had 20 years to refine their songs.
InWickeds The Wizard and I number, for instance, Elphaba is in constant motion that propels her upwards.
Shes ecstatic that she might get to meet the wonderful wizard.
She keeps rising, step by step, throughout the song until shes out onto a field.
And then we hold it back from the audience.
We dont give it to them untilDefying Gravity.
Chu is kinda wicked to the core.
He knew them by heart, as evidenced when Id quote an obscure song lyric, hed finish it.
It was really just for me to absorb their intention, Chu explains.
Those conversations brought about several additions to the script, and to some songs.
Tears were shed by crew when Erivo and Grande performed it live on set.
There was something involving Dulcibear, Elphaba and her sister Nessaroses nanny, Chu explains.
She says something thats atrocious, but words were changed to something softer so you didnt hate Dulcibear.
In the Defying Gravity number, the guards had been crying out, Get her!
Its one of the last words the guards are singing.
We changed it to Kill her!
And that was a scary change because its at the end of the movie.
But it raised the stakes of what the end-game was, which was that they want to kill her.
Chu learned a lot too, about Nessarose, played by Marissa Bode.
She is wheelbound, unable to walk.
What I learned was some ableist thinking that her only dream is to walk.
And what I learned is that not everyone who is a wheelchair user wants to walk.
Thats not their ultimate dream.
It was important to make it clear that Elphaba is on her sisters side in that viewpoint.
Elphaba understands that Nessarose doesnt need help, but everyone always tries to help her.
But shes very capable.
And so its like inches in there to go a long way actually, Chu explains.
He followed a similar interrogation of the verse with Erivo and Grande.
They would say the lyrics of every song out loud to fully comprehend its subtext.
So work with Stephen.
moment when she got to that very line in the song.
And I know how hard it is.
Ive seen actors who do their first lead in a movie, and thats not easy.
That also takes skills and that takes actual craftsmanship.
That experience can happen, he asserts.
And every time she came in, Ari was the most interesting person.
She was funny, she was emotional.
He called Grande back again and again.
And even Cynthia, if the world knows her, but not everybody knows her.
His sense was: When they see these two, its going to feel like a discovery.
And that was exciting.
Hed work with them again too, in a jiffy, if he had the right material.
However, what Chu did say aboutJosephwas that there are some necessary moments that need to be built on.
Chu played Oliver in a school production of Lionel BartsOliver!
Hes humming Where is Love as he chat.
Maybe hes the one to finally get Cameron Mackintoshs long-planned cinematic reworking ofOliver!off the ground?
The mans super busy, so itll take awhile.
TheresThe Woman in Me,a movie based on Britney Spears memoir, and thats on a fast track.
A Crazy Rich Asiansmusical is also in the offing, he says.
But right now, his focus is ongettingWicked: For Goodreadywhich Universal will release on November 21, 2025.
The second act gets meatier.
Wicked: For Goodalso explores the notion of what is home?
Why defend a home that doesnt even want you Is it worth it?
Why do you love that place?
These are things that we have to decide for ourselves now, Chu ponders.
you’re free to purchase the film for $29.99 or rent it for $19.99.
And later into 2025, Universal will putWickedon its Peacock streamer.
Then, by next November, fans will be well primed forWicked: For Good.
Wickedis clearly the show with the witch that keeps on giving.
