Last year’s hit film adaptation of Wicked was full of cameos for fans of the original stage show – but there was one that never actually made it to the big screen.
After dominating the box office in 2024, the movie musical recently had its home release, one iteration of which features commentary from director Jon M Chu.
During his commentary, Jon discloses that he was contacted by a certain heavyweight from the musical theatre world, who had a very specific cameo in mind before production got underway.
Referring to opening number No One Mourns The Wicked, Jon said (as reported by Gizmodo): “When that woman says, ‘Glinda, is it true you were her friend?’, I got many calls from Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“He might have publicly also tweeted that he wanted to be that voice and that person.”
However, after mulling it over, Jon ultimately decided it would be “too distracting” to have Lin-Manuel pop up so early on in the film.
“So, sorry, Lin,” Jon added.
Indeed, the Hamilton creator first made it clear that he wanted to cameo in Wicked way back in 2016, when Stephen Daldry was still attached to direct the film version of the Tony-winning musical.
Two of the stand-out cameos from Wicked came from Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who played the original Elphaba and Glinda on Broadway.
“It’s just so fun,” Jon said of Idina and Kristin’s unexpected appearances, explaining: “It was the middle of the night, and I think [for them] to see this giant set that we had built for a movie of a legacy that they built, these characters that they built from the ground up, was a beautiful thing for them to see.
“We were all, again, all in tears all the time. And then Idina gets to do her iconic war cry and same thing with Kristin, she gets to do her soprano. So fun.”
Part two of the story, titled Wicked For Good, is due to hit cinemas later this year.