There is no doubt that Wicked's adaptation is one of the most challenging musicals for fans to come on board. As much as the Wicked director hoped to cast no-namers, here's why he ended up choosing Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to play the iconic characters of Glinda and Elphaba.
Wicked Director Jon M. Chu Almost Cast 'No-Namers' for the New Film Adaptation
Casting rare talents to play Elphaba and Glinda is difficult enough, but hitting the accuracy and chemistry for the roles makes it harder.
According to Wicked director Jon M. Chu, he was looking into 'no-namers' to cast for the film adaptation of the Broadway musical before Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo landed their casting.
"I wanted to have a very clear slate coming into Wicked," Chu recalled, "It's a big enough property on its own, so we can discover two people. I was like, 'We're gonna find no-namers.'"
However, like any other casting calls in Hollywood, Chu found it difficult to pin down the actors meant for the Land of Oz.
"But then we got calls from all these great actresses who wanted to audition and we saw everybody, and they were all really great," Chu explained, "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."
In comes sensational pop singer Ariana Grande and the two-time Grammy award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo.
What Changed the Director's Mind About Casting Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo?
Considering that Wicked is translating a story into a musical, Chu realized through the auditions that the songs in the two-part film are "emotionally important."
"That means having good chops in their skill set," Chu added that their cast should be able to "get into song and out of song so easily like you don't even notice it."
In this case, Wicked chose Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo for Elphaba.
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Meanwhile, fans can expect Wicked part 1 to premiere on the big screens on November 22.
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