To be frank, when the interview confirmations came through we were a bit disappointed we didn’t get to speak to “Wicked” stars Cynthia Erivo or Ariana Grande. And we’re still scratching our heads as to why Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh were unavailable when we could literally snag them for any other project. But as the box office is forecasting, Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical looks like it will be a massive, massive hit. And with some euphoric reviews, including one right here on The Playlist, Universal Pictures looks like it has another Oscar player on its hands. So, perhaps there are future…possibilities.
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The good news is we had a long conversation with the Wizard of this magical musical, Chu, which will run on Monday. That interview includes some specific spoilers that need at least a few days to percolate. And, down the road, we’ll have a discussion with costume designer Paul Tazewell, who may be on the verge of finding himself halfway to EGOT this March. In the meantime, two of the breakout players in the film, Tony Award nominee Ethan Slater and newcomer Marissa Brode, took some time to reflect on their incredibly magical “Wicked” experience as Boq and Nessarose, respectively.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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The Playlist: Congratulations on the movie. This movie was a huge chunk of your life over the past two years. What was it like seeing it on screen for the first time?
Ethan Slater: Well, the first time was really, really special. I went in with pretty high expectations. I’m not going to lie, because shooting it, I was like, “This is really cool. Everyone that is in this movie, I’m so impressed by and blown away by.” And the only question mark was, it’s hard to judge yourself. So, I was a little nervous about that. But then, seeing the movie, I had high expectations, and it just kind of far exceeded them. I was so moved. Proud to be a little part of it.
Marissa Bode: Yeah, I felt similarly. I dunno, I definitely felt like it was a whole out-of-body experience for sure because I knew I filmed it. I knew I was there. I knew I did it. But seeing myself on a screen like that, something that I have obviously wanted to do for so long, but didn’t have a clear vision or just didn’t know if it would happen. And then to see that and see myself on screen, I was like, “Wait a minute, is that me? Hold up. Let’s ask everybody. Let’s ask the audience.” But it was really cool. And then to see everybody else’s performances as well? Yeah, I had chills after basically every single song. The Playlist: Marissa, I saw a previous interview where you had said that you thought you had screwed up your audition, and you didn’t think you were anywhere close to getting it. Why did you think that, and what was your reaction when you found out you did get the role?
Marissa Bode: Well, there were two reasons. One of them my last callback was I was just so nervous for, and because I’m very hard on myself, I just did not feel like I did as well as I could have. I was so nervous because everyone was in the room. It was Jon, I think Mark (Platt) was in that one as well, both casting people. And I was like, “Oh God.” And then I didn’t hear back from them for a few days after that. So, I was like, “Well, let me throw in the towel, I guess.”
Ethan Slater: It couldn’t have been more than a day and a half.

Marissa Bode: Probably. I love being dramatic. It’s in my blood. But then I made a little spooky short film to distract myself, and I posted it to my Instagram and in it, there’s spell casting and this song called “Witches” by Alice Phoebe Lou plays at the end of it. I wasn’t even thinking about the witches in “Wicked.: It was almost October, and I wanted to create something spooky. And then, two days later, I hear back from casting, which was very spooky and witchy in and of itself. And then I get another callback, and Jon’s talking about the character as we had prior. And then he’s like, “So, I saw that video that you had posted on social media, and you got to be careful. Nobody knows that you’re going up for this role.” And that’s when I was absolutely losing my mind. I was like, “Oh my God, I screwed it up. This is donezo for me. I messed it up. I broke a rule.” But it was just Jon’s way of including me and telling me that I got the part because he slowly brings the camera over. He’s like, “I got to go answer the door. Let me go get this door.” And it’s Ari and Cynthia at the door with a sign that says, “Welcome to Oz, will you be our Nessarose?” So he played a little trick on me and scared me a little bit, but it was very sweet and thoughtful.
Ethan Slater: I was kind of on the other side of that. I had just gotten to London And we were in rehearsals a little bit, and Jon was saying, “We are going to find the absolute perfect Nessa. I just know we’re going to.” And then one day he was like, “By the way, I can’t tell you anymore, but I’m 100% sure we found her. I just saw this tape. She’s incredible. You’re going to love her.” And then a little bit later he was like, ‘And she made this really witchy video. It’s like perfect. It’s perfect.” So, what’s funny on the other side of it is he was just so sure because you’re so amazing and you stayed that amazing through the whole thing.
The Playlist: Ethan, I’m also assuming that you also got a video from Jon turning the camera to Cynthia and Ariana telling you that you got the role.
Ethan Slater: They weren’t all in the same space, I think, when I got the role. That’s my reasoning for thinking why it didn’t happen for me. They were just all really busy. No, but I got an amazingly sweet call from Jon that was very moving and incredibly exciting. We’d gotten to chat a couple of times during the audition process, and I felt really excited that “Wicked” was in his hands. So, getting a call from him, he just wanted to talk through some things before we finally got to the thing. And he was like, “And then you’re going to be getting an official call soon because going to be playing Boq.” It was special.