Wicked’s John Chu talks about casting Elphaba

With Bad out now on digital home releaseit became a fan frenzy to learn more behind-the-scenes details about the making of the film. In the featurette Doing bad things, You can enjoy the story from the beginning of the production, including filmmaker Jon M. Chu casting process for his film adaptation of the Broadway musical about the untold origin story of the witches of Oz.

One of the most insightful sections of and special features’ The content of the documentary-style is how the main characters of the film, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, had a long journey of audition for the roles of Elphaba and Glinda.

io9 has an exclusive look at “Casting Elphaba,” a clip from Universal Home Entertainment’s digital release. It shows Chu talking about casting Erivo as the film’s Wicked Witch of the West. “We’re just looking at everybody,” he remembers saying. “And we saw them all and they were all great. They were great. I was like, okay, I want to — let me just meet Cynthia.”

He continued: “She didn’t act like she was bigger than the show. She didn’t act like she was a fan of the show. And more than that, she was a fan of a story about an outsider.” In the background, you can hear Erivo’s powerful voice performing numbers from the musical including “The Wizard and I.” And, as Chu explains, the final decision of who would play Elphaba was a no-brainer.

“We were like, of course, it’s Cynthia. And then she sang ‘Defying Gravity.'” Chu said, referring to the character’s signature. “As soon as she left the room, we were like, it’s her, it’s Elphaba. She was so raw and vulnerable. And I couldn’t get her out of my head.”

Bad is out now in theaters and digital. Wicked: For good open this Thanksgiving.

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