In an event at the BFI Southbank as part of the London Film Festival, Jon M. Chu sat down to talk about all things Wicked. This included reflections on the casting process for the first film, a look at the technical aspects of making a blockbuster on that scale, and concluding with a first look clip of Wicked: For Good.
The conversation started with a look into the director's upbringing in San Francisco, and how that influenced his creative endeavours. Chu referred to the Chinese restaurant that his parents ran as a “house of stories” and discussed the need he and his siblings felt to be positive representation for the Chinese American community.
As the conversation turned more specifically to Wicked, the director recalled his first time seeing the show on stage in the earliest days on Broadway, and how, even then, he could see it as a movie immediately. When it came to him finally coming onto the long-anticipated project, conversations were already happening about whether to split the narrative into two features. Chu told the audience that solidifying that split into two films was one of his first major decisions on the project. He particularly talked of making the most of “when you come onto a project, you have around 2 or 3 weeks where you're like God,” to implement this big swing. This evolved into a conversation about shaping the arc for the separate films, and particularly using ‘Defying Gravity' as a thematic grounding for every single character in Wicked.
The director spoke at length about the casting process for Wicked; from the initial plan to cast unknowns to surrendering to the perfect pairing of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. We learned that due to the initial casting happening during the pandemic, the pair hadn't met in person, and nobody knew whether they were going to have chemistry. However, Chu settled on the mantra that regardless of whether they hated or loved each other, the film would pick that up: “energy is energy.” He recalled their first time singing ‘For Good' together in his living room as a pivotal moment—“We knew what we had right there and that it was really special.”
The audience were played snippets from the first film, with musical sequences such as ‘What is This Feeling?' and ‘Dancing Through Life' leading into a conversation regarding the technicalities of filming numbers like that, and the unique power of movie musicals to move people. As Chu reminded those there, “Three notes can describe what a paragraph of dialogue could never.” He also used analogies from his life in the Chinese restaurant, telling the audience, “When I'm shooting, I'm not making the movie, I'm pulling together the ingredients… in the edit room, that's where I cook.”
In regard to the second movie, Wicked: For Good, Chu teased some of what we can look forward to. This included highlighting the work of hair and make-up designer Frances Hannon, and particularly the practical design of both the Tin Man and Scarecrow characters. He also got fans excited for the eponymous song, and particularly its emotional drive. He told the audience, “We had to take the burden off of doing a show for people. We have to trust that people love these girls.” The biggest treat for fans, however, was the unveiling of a brand new clip from the movie. The scene saw Glinda getting ready on her wedding day, when Elphaba surprises her with an unexpected visit.
The interview ended with an opportunity for audience questions, which led to Chu discussing his time at film school, the challenge of making work that is both art and commerce, and how to make a set feel fun. He ended with an acknowledgement of why Wicked worked as well as it has. “We all believed that this movie was bigger than us, that the message [of Wicked] was bigger than us.”
Wicked: For Good arrives in cinemas on 21 November.
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