Michelle Yeoh is set to play the role of Madame Morrible in the upcoming fantasy film Wicked. The actress will share the screen space alongside Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, portraying the character of a professor at the university.
As the movie nears its release date, Yeoh revealed not having known what Wicked was until the director, Jon M. Chu, called her up for the role. During the Oscar-winning actress’ appearance at the Los Angeles premiere of the film, she admitted that she had not watched a lot of Broadway shows and was unaware of the concept of Wicked.
While addressing the audience at the premiere of the film, the Crazy Rich Asians actress shared that she read the script and went through her part of the dialogue, “At that point, I had no clue what he was talking about because I had not seen Wicked the musical before. I knew Wizard of Oz, who doesn’t, but not Wicked, because I hadn’t been going to the theaters and not doing what I love, which is watching musicals, for quite a while, I hate to say.”
The new movie is an adaptation of the Broadway musical, wherein Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel played the roles of Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. As for the film, Grande and Erivo will take the lead, alongside other actors, including Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Yeoh, and Bowen Yang playing the other characters.
Further in her conversations at the event, the Asian native revealed, “So I read it and called Jon back and said, ‘This is a musical and she sings.’ And he said, ‘Oh, easy; you’ll have fun; you’re up for the challenge.” She continued to say, “And then the next thing I knew, I got this video call and it was him with Ariana and Cynthia saying, ‘It’s imperative you come and join us now.’”
The actress went on to state that she was quite nervous about singing in the film, “but after working with a coach, the process of exercising, learning to use the muscles in a different way, was actually very, very good for me because it helps with my voice as an actor. So I had fun.”’
Wicked will release in theaters on November 22.
