The 'Crazy Rich Asians' actress will play the Headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University while the 'Saturday Night Live' comic will portray one of the students.
- Dec 12, 2022
AceShowbiz - Michelle Yeoh has been recruited as Madame Morrible in the "Wicked" movies. The 60-year-old actress is set to reunite with "Crazy Rich Asians" director Jon M. Chu on the two-part adaptation of the musical classic.
According to Variety, she will play the Headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University. Morrible is the one who convinces Elphaba to create the flying monkeys while she sings in the "The Wizard and I".
The news comes hot off the press of Ethan Slater being unveiled as Boq. The Tony-nominated star - who is best known for his role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical of the same name - is set to play the love interest of Elphaba's younger sister, Nessarose, however, he actually has his heart set on impressing Glinda.
Chu made the casting announcement as production began on Wednesday, December 7. The filmmaker posted on his Instagram Story, "Welcoming our Boq to Shiz University! @ethanslater it is an honor to have you attending. I've been a big fan of yours for a long time, and I can't wait for the world to see you bringing Boq to life! (sic)"
Another new addition to the cast is Bowen Yang. The "Saturday Night Live" star is among a slew of new faces unveiled for the two-part adaptation of the popular stage musical, with Marissa Bode, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, Aaron Teoh, and Colin Michael Carmichael also signing up for the project.
Marissa will be playing Elphaba's sister Nessarose and, like her character, the actress is a wheelchair user. Bowen and Bronwyn will be playing classmates of Elphaba and Glinda at Shiz University while Keala will play Miss Coddle, Aaron will portray Avaric, and Colin will be Nikidik.
The two-parter stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. It was recently reported that Jeff Goldblum is to play The Wizard in the pair of "Wicked" films.
Chu decided to make the movie into two parts because it would be "impossible" to put the complex story into a single film. He said, "Thank you for all the support these past several months in anticipation of the 'WICKED' movie."
"Here's what happened, as we prepared this production over the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of 'WICKED' into a single film without doing some real damage to it. With more space, we can tell the story of WICKED as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters."
"Wicked: Part One" is set to be released in December 2024, with the second following in 2025.
