1.
Cynthia Erivo wore a prosthetic arm throughout the film while playing Elphaba. Her ears are usually covered in piercings, so instead of leaving them all out, she wore tight-fitting covers to completely hide everything.
2.
They planted and cultivated 9 million tulips to become part of the Munchkinland landscape. In the musical, the munchkins are responsible for collecting the colors of the tulip field, so it was important to include an actual flower field rather than adding it in with CGI later.
3.
Nick and Joe Jonas both auditioned to play Fiyero, but the role ultimately went to Jonathan Bailey. Nick said of his audition: “I think it went really well. I was very happy to come out of the room. I’m a huge fan of the show, and I always thought that role would be fun. But I think Jonathan will do a great job.”
5.
It took more than four hours each morning to paint Cynthia’s body the signature shade of green. Depending on your outfit for the day and how much skin you need to show (for example, if you only need to cover your head, neck, and hands), you can shorten that time to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
6.
The green “paint” also took about 45 minutes to wipe off after each shoot and required a special makeup remover.
7.
According to Oscar winner Frances Hannon’s hair and makeup supervisor: wickedHer team’s most difficult challenge was developing a shade of green that looked like skin rather than face paint. They went through several “green tests” to find the right shade, ultimately settling on something with a highlighter yellow tint because it read better on Cynthia’s dark skin and “managed to reflect light instead of absorbing it.”
8.
Oscar-nominated costume designer Paul Tazewell also had an incredibly difficult job. To prevent the green makeup from constantly staining all of Cynthia’s outfits, he created colored skin suits and lined Cynthia’s outfits with dyed fabric. This helped give the effect that her character was completely green without 1. having to paint her entire body and 2. having to paint her costume polluting the color that would ruin the scene.
9.
Rather than relying on CGI, numerous physical sets were built to film the film. Because they wanted to make everything feel as “immersive” as possible. Take a closer look at what the set actually looks like, from laying a yellow brick road to spray painting a green floor.
10.
The film’s set doubles as a recording studio, as Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo insisted on singing live while filming rather than relying on pre-recordings. According to Ariana, sticking to a musical track would have been too restrictive and wouldn’t have allowed her to improvise or try new things. It would also have disrupted more of the “emotional connection” between the characters, actors, and music. But more importantly, they wanted to sing live “in solidarity with the women of Broadway who performed eight shows a week.”
11.
And it’s especially impressive when you realize that Cynthia Erivo did her own stunts. For example, she had to “change the way she breathes” to sing properly because she was literally flying through the air in a corset and harness while she sang.
12.
Ariana Grande’s “bubble” dress (the dress Glinda wears when she floats down from the sky) wizard of oz. It was originally pure pink, but the finished product became a rainbow color. Her crown was also designed with a series of circular bubbles layered on top of each other. If we take a closer look, it looks like this:
13.
But Elphaba’s dress was actually inspired by all the patterns and textures of different mushrooms and fungi. Instead of making it completely black, I added purple and lace as a layer underneath. Here’s a close-up where you can really see all the details:
14.
The train that transports Elphaba and Glinda to the Emerald City is actually real. Custom-built for the film, it weighed 16 tons and took two days to move.
15.
that wicked The novel came out in 1995, and within a week of its publication, Whoopi Goldberg tried to buy the rights to make it into a movie. Laurie Metcalf and Claire Danes also showed interest at one point.
16.
But Demi Moore ultimately won the bidding war. She and her production company spent several years securing the rights and developing the film. In the end, they had to give up because they couldn’t find the right script, but Mark Platt (Ben Platt’s father), who was in charge of Universal at the time, came up with the idea of turning it into a musical. It premiered on Broadway in 2003 and has now grossed nearly $1.7 billion, making it the second highest-grossing show of all time.
17.
And finally, the horse ridden by Jonathan Bailey. wicked It’s just like the one he rode bridgerton. Jonathan specifically asked for him (his name is Jack!), and wow, I never thought I’d be jealous of that weird horse.
