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Oscar-Winner Michelle Yeoh On Doing Her First Musical With Wicked: 'It was a risk'
The Everything Everywhere All at Once star is taking on the role of Shiz University headmistress, Madame Morrible.
Michelle Yeoh refuses to rest on her laurels. Following a well-deserved Oscar victory for Everything Everywhere All at Once, the actress has found her next great cinematic challenge: Universal's two-part adaptation of Wicked (the first movie drops next fall).
"I'm trying something new right now — filming Jon Chu's Wicked movie, which will be my first musical," Yeoh said during an appearance at the Fifth Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival in Fukuoka, Japan (via Entertainment Weekly). "It's very exciting, and I can't wait for you all to see it. It was a risk, but you will never know which doors will open for you unless you try them all."
Yeoh will be tackling the role of Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Shiz University, the Oz institution of higher learning attended by the future Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), and Glinda (Ariana Grande).
"There's the conversations that we've been having, both with myself and Ariana and with myself and the director. Even the costume designer; hair and makeup," Erivo told ScreenRant back in March of this year. "It's a really collaborative effort to create these women in this world, and that's how we've been prepping for it. We're in it right now; we're deep in it. We're making it, and every little detail is thought about. Every moment is thought about, and I'm so excited for people to get their eyes on it once it's done. I think it's gonna be really special. It's definitely been special to me, and we've had some really wonderful moments doing it."
The cast also includes the likes of Jeff Goldblum (playing the Wizard himself), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Ethan Slater (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live), Bronwyn James (Lockwood & Co.), Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman), Colin Michael Carmichael (Black Mirror), and relative newcomers Marissa Bode and Aaron Teoh.
Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, Wicked dares to reframe the entire Wizard of Oz mythology through the eyes of one of the most reviled villains in all of pop culture. But what if the Wicked Witch of the West wasn't actually...all that wicked?
Part One arrives on the big screen Nov. 27, 2024. Part Two is slated for release on Dec. 25, 2025.
Suddenly in the mood for some Oz-universe fun? Head on over to Peacock and check out The Steam Engines of Oz starring Ron Perlman, William Shatner, and Julianne Hough.
