- “Wicked” adapts the first half of the Broadway musical of the same name.
- Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, it was a massive undertaking with a reported $160 million budget.
- Here are some of the behind-the-scenes details and stories that were part of the making of the film.
Warning: Some “Wicked” spoilers ahead.
“Wicked,” the film adaptation of one of the longest-running Broadway musicals of all time, was understandably a major undertaking.
The movie, directed by Jon M. Chu (“In The Heights”), only tackles the first half of the stage musical in its two-hour and 41-minute runtime (“Wicked” part two is set to hit theaters in 2025). Depicting Elphaba and Glinda’s school years and creating the world of Oz required major practical sets, some insurance fears, and of course, lots of green paint.
With a reported $160 million budget, “Wicked” had a stellar opening weekend at the global box office to the tune of $164.2 million. Needless to say, people are loving “Wicked” and all its fun easter eggs.
Here are some of the behind-the-scenes details and filming secrets from the making of “Wicked,” part one.
The cast sang live on the set of ‘Wicked.’
Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and the rest of the cast decided to sing live on set, and that’s the audio that you hear in the film itself.
Ariana Grande didn’t remember saying ‘RIGHT!’ during ‘Popular.’
In Grande’s version of “Popular,” she enthusiastically yells “Right!” in response to Erivo’s Elphaba finishing one of her sentences. The moment, which is a departure from Chenoweth’s delivery on the original cast recording, has gone viral on social media.
Grande, however, didn’t remember delivering it on set, she revealed on TikTok.
‘Popular’ was filmed with a piano accompanist.
Chu told The New York Times that given that “Wicked’s” vocals were recorded live, the production filmed “Popular” with a pianist on set.
Having a live accompanist meant that Grande could play with tempo in her performance, rather than having to adhere to a pre-recorded instrumental track.
Erivo did her own stunts.
Elphaba loops around in the sky during “Defying Gravity” — and Erivo did so herself on set, flying through the air on wires while in costume.
“How can you hire an actor that does their own stunts, amazing acting, sings, and then you integrate all three of those things together and land it over, and over, and over, and over, and over again?” Chu said in a behind-the-scenes video.
Grande also did stunts in ‘Wicked.’
In “Popular,” there’s a moment where Grande swings around on a chandelier. On “The Tonight Show,” she shared footage of her doing the stunt with Erivo and a stunt coordinator.
“One of our stunt coordinators was standing in the room just to make sure that I didn’t break all of my limbs,” Grande said. “He was standing in the corner really stoically and bravely, and my foot just kind of almost breaks his face.”
Cynthia Erivo chose to be painted green rather than using CGI.
In a video uploaded to the “Wicked” Instagram account, Erivo said that she was given the choice to either be painted green, or have the color applied in post-production.
“I wanted to look back at a reflection and see a green woman in front of me. I really wanted for her skin to feel textured. When you look at it, there’s freckles, and there’s tone, and shade, just like skin should be. She has these green eyes that come from the genetic makeup of who she is, and it isn’t just on her, it’s in her,” Erivo said.
Erivo also wore fake ears on set to cover her piercings.
Erivo has multiple piercings in her ears. Rather than cover them up individually, the production team just opted to give her new ears entirely.
“I have a million piercings, so they brought in a prosthetic artist, who created basically a shell for my ears — those aren’t my ears!” she told Elle.
Grande and Erivo spent five hours together when they first met.
The actors told Deadline that they wanted to deliberately build their friendship and “take care of each other,” as Grande said.
“The first time we met was at my house,” Erivo said. “We sat and chatted for a good few hours — five — and I think we just saw each other immediately. It was really easy. We didn’t have to think about it, we were just there and that has continued.”
Grande and Erivo both had COVID the week before their respective biggest numbers.
The actors told The New York Times that they each got COVID once on set. For Grande, it was the week before “Popular,” Glinda’s biggest, mostly solo number. Erivo had it the week before she shot “Defying Gravity,” the climax of the first film.
Grande and Erivo got matching tattoos.
The stars got multiple “Wicked”-themed tattoos, including matching “For Good” tattoos on their palms, poppies on their hands, and hearts on their legs. Each actor also has individual tattoos, such as a broom and hat for Erivo.
The pair gave a tour of their matching tattoos on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
The ‘tornado wheel’ in ‘Dancing Through Life’ was almost deemed too dangerous.
The wheel setpiece has three different rotating pieces, each with a ladder cutting across the middle. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chu called the set “very dangerous” — to the extent that the production’s insurance was not keen on allowing it.
“I wasn’t sure they were gonna allow Jonathan Bailey in the tornado wheel because of safety. Which makes sense, because this is, he needs to carry on. We can’t injure our Fiyero,” choreographer Christopher Scott told EW.
Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth said they changed their character descriptions.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chenoweth and Menzel — the original Glinda and Elphaba — spoke about how they were asked to be in the film.
“We both texted, and she said, ‘Have you seen the description of us in the movie?’ And it was like, it didn’t say ‘old, decrepit,'” Chenoweth said. “It said something like that. But then we changed it and we said, ‘No, we’re not going to be those wise men.'”
“Can’t we just be beautiful fairy goddesses?” Menzel said.
“We might have had that one part changed,” Chenoweth said. “Just that one.”
Kristin Chenoweth got Ariana Grande matching Glinda jackets.
Chenoweth posted several photos of herself and Grande wearing the matching painted pink jackets on Instagram.
“Leading my babygirl down the yellow brick road,” she captioned the post. “I surprised @arianagrande with these jackets on set at @wickedmovie… a little physical memento of our ‘passing of the wand.'”
“Wicked” is now playing in theaters.
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