‘Wicked’ director Jon M. Chu balanced Cynthia Erivo close-up, visual effects

On November 18, 2024By Littum

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 (UPI) — Director Jon M. Chu said the film adaptation of Evilin theaters Friday, wanted to focus on a close-up of star Cynthia Erivo during the climactic performance of the song “Defying Gravity.”

Erivo plays Elphaba, the green magician dubbed The Wicked Witch of The West in The Wizard of Oz. She sings “Defying Gravity” the moment she learns to fly.

“I knew we wanted to be on her face on it,” Chu said after a screening in Los Angeles. “We have to be so close to her.”

Stage productions of Evil use wires to raise the actor in the air. A film could add visual effects to the wirework, but Chu didn’t want to overdo it.

“Every word is gold, and yet the audience also wants to experience what it feels like to fly with her,” Chu said. “No other person has been able to do that on this show before.”

Jon M. Chu let the camera capture Cynthia Erivo (L) and Ariana Grande's emotions. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures — Jon M. Chu let the camera capture Cynthia Erivo (L) and Ariana Grande’s emotions. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

On stage, “Defying Gravity” is performed just before the break. It is the film’s climax that leads to Evil part twowhich comes next year.

In addition to serving as the show’s signature song and biggest spectacle, “Defying Gravity” is an emotional turning point. Elphaba learns that the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) has no real magic and plans to use hers, so she chooses to fly alone.

Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba in "Evil." Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures — Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba in “Wicked”. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Chu scheduled “Defying Gravity” for the end of production to give Erivo time to train for it.

“That doesn’t include the emotional labor that she had to put Elphaba through,” Chu said. “This is the end of the movie. This determines if one movie and two movies work.”

Ariana Grande plays Glinda "Evil." Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures — Ariana Grande plays Glinda in “Wicked”. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

But last summer when Evil was ending, Screen Actors Guild went on strike. Chu advised Erivo not to hold on to Elphaba’s emotional state as he expected a long strike.

“At three months, she calls me and says, ‘I haven’t let it go. I can’t let it go. I want to be there,'” Chu said, adding that when production resumed in December, “she dropped it same. in and she was like ‘I’m (expletive) ready’.”

The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) have an agenda for magic. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Erivo sang the song on set while performing flying stunts in a harness.

“She had been exercising, spinning and doing loop de loop,” Chu said. “It takes a lot of muscle memory.”

By the time he filmed “Defying Gravity,” Chu had already learned to hold back on some of the flashy technical camerawork in other scenes. There are plenty of such moments in the musical numbers, but Chu let other moments play subtly.

Chu credited cinematographer Alice Brooks for encouraging him to trust the performances in those moments. For example, at a school dance, Chu scrapped his camerawork ideas when Glinda (Arianne Grande) joins Elphaba in an emotional choreography.

“I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, she’s crying and we’re going to whip around here,'” Chu said, adding that Brooks suggested “Just let it sit and let Cynthia take the wheel for a minute.”

Although Evil uses modern visual effects and camera technology to bring the land of Oz to life, said Chu the original 1939 The Wizard of Oz remained an influence. Chu’s goal was to incorporate modern “toys” into classic Hollywood style.

“We wanted to do a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood,” Chu said. “Our love of film came from films like this, where you could just be swept away into a country and at the same time have this intimacy of something real.”

And yet Chu saw the themes too Evil which transcends ancient history. Traditional tales said that green witches are villains.

“It’s about waking up from it sometimes,” Chu said. “It’s lifting the curtain and seeing the storyteller.”

“The Man Behind the Curtain” is famously the real wizard who told Dorothy not to pay attention to him. Chu said that Elphaba and Glinda question the conventional stories behind their magical world.

“Those questions are uncomfortable and they’re scary,” Chu said. “At some point you have to hear each other and maybe even forgive each other for some things.”

Chu said Evil is about Elphaba going her own way when she looks behind the wizard’s curtain and realizes she has no place on the yellow brick road.

“I love that she’s like, ‘You know what? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads,” Chu was quoted as saying Back to the future.

UPI’s review of Evil post Tuesday.