the wicked movie news... and drama! 

As long as Ariana Grande makes an effort to be Glinda and not just herself (eg. modifies her singing style, demeanour etc.) then I have complete faith in her talent to pull it off. Also, consider Kristen Chenoweth as Madame Morrible.

As long as James Corden is kept away from this project, all will be fine.

i do wish they’d casted some smaller actors for the main roles as i (personally) think wicked on its own is big enough, but i’m sure everyone is going to be fab and i’m excited to see it

At 4’10, my favorite thing about the Ariana casting is that it keeps Galinda a short queen. I’ve always been inspired by Kristin Chenoweth for being a powerhouse around my height.

I would be very surprised if Ben Platt is cast in this regardless of his father being a producer. I think the sting of the Dear Evan Hanson movie is still too fresh and they will probably want to put some distance between that and this.

I am apprehensive about how Arianna Grande will play the role because her musical theatre background is now distant. However my view really doesn't matter. I feel disappointed for Taylor, especially if she found out she wasnt cast by the media release (another video topic maybe...) but dont think it was smart to announce it how she did. Agree some more unknowns would be great for the rest of the roles.

Honestly if Lea Michele weren’t who she is, I would’ve loved to see her as Elphie and dove Cameron as Glinda. But Cynthia is SO MUCH BETTER (musical pun intended)

I really hope they choose someone who can really sing for Fiyero and don't focus in just being a cute guy to attract public. imagine Cynthia slaying As Long As You're Mine with a guy who can't keep up? tragedy. I'd love Ryan McCartan , but he just did a video reacting to the casting in his channel, I guess he wouldn't do that if he was on the run.

Someone give Cynthia her EGOT status!!!!!

Petition for Amy to share her Cynthia Erivo fangirl story pls (extremely relatable) 😅 I have seen her in almost everything she’s done in the UK and I’m SO EXCITED FOR THIS FILM NOW!

I've been waiting. Thank you, queen. ETA: Okay, now that I've actually watched the video, my only concern is that I'll see Ariana whenever Glinda's onscreen, like that no matter what costumes and makeup does, I'll get pulled out of the moment. But regardless of that worry I'm excited. We've been waiting for this forever. I will riot however if he who shall not be named gets mentioned anywhere near this.

If you want a short king for Fiyero, we should look no further than Darren Criss. Got his start in musical theatre, wonderful voice and has done movies before so is a safe pair of hands! Although maybe he's more Boq than Fiyero... The man has munchkin vibes 😂

I would have loved Dove Cameron as Glinda as I feel like she’s in the good range for the voice, shes got the look down, she’s played similar characters, and she’s worked several times with Kristen Chenowith but Ariana Grande is good too as she’s got an amazing voice and has acting/musical experience as well.

Holy shit now I NEED Dev Patel as Fiyero

my gasp at that "Ben Platt as Doctor Dillamond" idea was so loud, my throat hurts. Love it so much.

I like your green attire - it's a Wicked theme 💚

I just don't want Ariana's brand to take place over Wicked's own brand both in her singing and acting. I really hope she pulls it off though, I really do. I think she both is and isn't a stunt cast. Her influence is definitely accounted for in her getting the role and she's not just "born to play this role", but I don't think it's fair to say it's just that. Like you said it also makes sense for the character more than say, doing the casting of Elphie like that. Fiyero should be played by a black man.

As long as they don’t put James Corden in it, I’ll support it

I would love for Ali Stroker to play Nessa but I'd like it if they could change the role to be less negative disabled archetype like or at least address it in some way. We need some good wheelchair user representation in a big movie like wicked

Kristin and Idina should absolutely be given a cameo during One Short Day 💚

I'd like to see either Jelani Alladin or Jordan Fisher play Fiyero.

Everyone keeps complaining about the fact that Cynthia is “too old” to be playing Elphaba. Even here the argument for it is that this is a magical story. But no one is talking about the fact that the whole point of Elphaba’s character is that she looks physically different from the rest of the characters.

Honestly, super excited to see Cynthia and Ariana as Elphie and Glinda!! I think you’re definitely right in saying that Ariana is going to bring a really fresh new take on the role, and I’m excited to see her act again. As for the other characters, I would LOVE to see a black Fieryo as in the original novel he is described as very dark skinned and I think it would be really cool to have a black male lead on the big screen whose story doesn’t necessarily revolve around his race. (I personally think Jordan Fisher would be amazing!!) It would also put a pretty interesting spin on his character since both him and Elphaba would be able to relate to being outcasted by the color of their skin. I’ve also heard a lot of people say that Kristen should play Madame Morrible which I think would be so amazing! Boq, I agree would be played well by a younger unknown, and a curvy or POC Nessa would be awesome. As for the the Wizard and Dr. Dilamond, let’s face it, one of them is probably going to be James Corden🤣, but if not, Ben Platt is a really cool casting idea that I haven’t heard of yet. Lovely video as always Amy!!

Remember when everyone wanted Lea Michele to be cast as Elphaba? That girl destroyed her career in a sec

Ariana is def a theater kid. She is also good friends with Colleen Ballinger and other super huge theater nerds. If she didn't do Glinda right, her friends would be ticked. So I have confidence that Ariana is going to do her best to do the role right.

I totally agree with everything you said! I hate how so many people are hating on this casting choose because.. there’s nothing anyone can do about it 😂

I love your ideas for casting but I *have* to throw my picks / expectations into the ring for consideration as follows : Fiyero - Jordan Fisher *or* Donald Glover Boq - I will be astounded if it isn’t Ben Platt The Wizard - Hugh Jackman Morrible - Glenn Close *or* Patti Lupone *or* Kristin Chenoweth Dillamond - let’s not fool ourselves, this could be the obligatory James Corden. Fortunately he doesn’t do much so if he had to be in it this is the best place Nessarose - Ali Stroker (if this is possible with the movement elements)

Ali Stroker for Nessarose! We know she can sing and dance (see Spring Awakening and Oklahoma) and she could absolutely bring something fresh and exciting to the role. Fingers crossed for authentic casting of a wheelchair user, please! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

How could they not cast Ali Stroker in the role of Nessa? I would love to see Antonio Cipriano as Fieyro, but next to those two ladies he would be too young and it would come off creepy.

Meryl Streep, I think will be madame morrible... I'm calling it... Glenn Close will be to busy with rehearsals and filming the musical film version of 'Sunset Blvd' playing Norma Desmond...

Now that they are going to be filming Wicked in Elstree Studios, I wouldn’t be surprised that they will cast some Wicked alumni as background characters just like what was done in the Les Mis film.

I haven’t seen Wicked as yet so I appreciate that there aren’t any spoilers in this video.

A little while ago, I watched a Sam and Ryan video about their dream cast, and they threw out the idea of having some of the OBC reprise in different roles, like Kristen Chenowith for Madame Morrible and Norbert Leo Butz for Dr. Dillamond. I would be here for that casting! Also I would love Jordan Fisher as Fiyero, but I can see if they'd want to cast someone closer to Cynthia in age.

Amy, after days of watching bitter commentary, it is so refreshing to hear your balanced take. Thank you for always finding the positive!

Dev Patel as Fiyero?!?!?!? Tears in my eyes. If he can sing, he would be PERFECT!!!!

My heart goes out to Taylor. I met her at the stage door for kinky boots and she seemed like the kindest soul. I know what it’s like to want something so bad and have worked so hard for and then have it be crushed in front of you.

GLENN CLOSE AS MORRIBLE YES OMG

I like the casting a lot! I'm a huge fan of Hadley Fraser, so i hope he gets a role in the movie, maybe as Doctor Dillamond?

It's not at all the same situation as DEH for Cynthia, because on top of the reasons you listed the show also covers a long period of time right up to Elphaba's "death" so even if she's older than the typical uni student (which doesn't really matter anyway because there was an 83 year old woman in my classes when I was at uni so you can start uni at any age) she's still younger than Margaret Hamilton was when she played the wicked witch of the west in MGM's Wizard of Oz

I really wanted Liz to be casted as Elphaba. Her vocals are amazing and she also has musical experiences Also I have no worries for Ari since she played Cat on Victorious. Her character was great and she mentioned that she wanted to play Glinda for years, I think she would work extra harder for her role

If they do a new song, I can see them removing the I’m Not That Girl Reprise, and giving Glinda a new song when Fiyero leaves her. That way there’s no backlash for any songs being replaced, as they will retain the original song for Elphaba, and also have the added bonus of their new song being an Ariana Grande song, which will increase the hype for the Oscars, because like it or not, Ariana guarantees more plays.

I've honestly been waiting for Ariana Grande to make it into one of these big budget movie musicals. It's seemed inevitable. Obviously, Broadway is a passion for her. She's always been a theatre kid and she makes way more sense than some of the stunt casting we've seen in the past. I completely understand anyone disappointed a current Broadway actor wasn't cast. But Ariana Grande is honestly one of the better options we could have hoped for. She's got the pipes. She has a bit of a Broadway background. She's passionate about the show. And to be honest, if they were going to tap an a-list celebrity for any role in Wicked, it makes complete sense that it would be Glinda. I'm just hoping the rest of the cast is solid and seeing both leads right now having musical theatre backgrounds gives me hope. And yes, I'm hoping for a lack of James Corden.

love the green!

I love hearing your opinions and insights for musical movies because you bring up good points, you’re honest, and you critique with kindness

You are so relaxing to listen to while drinking coffee in the morning! Love hearing your thoughts and promotion of being open minded and kind 💕

I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID! I was excited for Ariana to play her dream role, but was also hesitant since it is SUCH A BIG ROLE. But people choose not to look past her Cat and Penny roles. She can act, hopefully better now, and undoubtedly sing. But people need to give Ariana credit for her acting. We need to have hope. Ariana can do this! Hopefully wonderfully!

I'm worried about Arianna. I don't rate her acting, and last time I checked she wasn't a classically trained soprano. I hope she surprises me, but I'm so worried. This is 100% a stunt casting, so I can understand Taylor's upset!

Hearing about this movie is like eating an extremely hot yet delicious meal: first I go "ouch it hurts!" then I keep eating because the more Wicked the better, but also "ouch it hurts!"..., and the cycle continues forever.

There is something about the casting that feels.....off. I think with Cynthia, her presence and abilities just play older than her age and I don’t know about Ariana but I really had my heart set on Dove Cameron for Glinda.

I'm sooooo excited Cynthia is the best choice and I'm sure ariana will try her best and she's so talented so we know it will be great 👍 👌 💗 💓

Thank you for spreading understanding and positivity! I am curious how they'll cast the munchkins since both witches are around 5' 2". I really hope they cast a wheelchair-using Black actress for Nessa!

I would love if they cast a man of color as Fiyero. In the original book, he had dark skin, so I would love to see that represented.

In terms of a Wicked movie, I have always seen Anna Kendrick as the perfect actor for Glinda. But I’m very happy with Cynthia playing Elphaba, can’t believe I never thought of it before.

as a huge wicked stan, i rlly like ariana as glinda, i deeply trust cynthia and i know she will be great. everytime casting for a musical movie comes out the first thing i do is check if they can sing and both of them a incredible singers so im not rlly worried

In the book the shoes 👞 👞 turn from silver to crimson (red). In the show they shine a red like to make the silver shoes go red. I'm interested to see how they decide to do this in the movie.

TOTALLY agree Ben would be a great Dillamond! Never thought about that but now you say it, I can’t unsee it 😂 as for Fieryo, give me Mike Faist 🤩

It would be great if they did cast a disabled person as Nessa (Ali Stroker would be perfect) but there's also the scene where Elphaba gives Nessa the ability to walk so unless they cut that scene out of the movie they might not be able to cast a disabled person

For fiyero I would love it to be Jordan Fischer or Isaac cole Powell and for Boq I would actually like to see Tom Holland. Boq isn’t the most vocally demanding and Tom has done Musical Theater and is an amazing dancer. Like just imagine the dancing through life sequence and how incredible it could be

Supposedly part of the hold up with the movie was Stephen Schwartz writing TWO new songs...I'm curious to know where people think they would fit those songs in the story, since the show has very little dialogue already...or will they replace other songs (*cough cough* sentimental man). Also I second the vote for Kristen as Morrible!

Hey Amy! I just wanted to say... that was actually a pretty good Ariana impression lol

Cynthia Erivo sings like a GODDESS, I'm so ready for her performance as our beloved wicked witch 💚💖

I’m so glad you’re talking about this 🙏💋

So interesting how people put themselves through so much consternation over casting choices when they know they're going to see the movie regardless. 😂

I like the idea of Glenn Close as Madame Morrible! Yes!

I just wanted a mezzo Elphaba

Honestly when I saw the news the first thought I had was that I want to see your video on it 😂

Gonna throw it out there, Ariana is the *definition* of a theater kid, it's not like she doesn't know exactly what she's doing

I agree with so much of this. As for Glinda casting... I was REALLY hoping for Ashley Park!

My ideal casting would be Jordan Fisher as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Kristin Chenowith as Morrible, Andre de Sheilds as the Wizard, and Ali Stroker as Nessa ❤️🙏🏻 I feel like this is the kind of musicalwhere you couldn't get away with not casting actual theater people in these roles.

Glenn Close as Madame Morrible…yes 😍😍😍 xxx

don’t forget about the petition to keep james corden out of the film! 😂

Speaking of cameos for Idina and Kristen, I also would LOVE a cameo by Kerry Ellis with Bryan May (guitar and all)

Amy I would love to see Jordan Fisher as Fiyero and Ethan Slater (from SpongeBob the musical) as Boq. Doctor Dillamond I can see going to Norbert Leo Butz as another nod to the OBC.

I also have strongly confused feelings about Ariana, but I'm more and more bummed that her news is overshadowing that CYNTHIA will be Elphaba! So many people including me were begging for non-white actors in the major roles, esp a Black woman for Elphaba, and she got it!! What a gift of casting. They're both important roles but this is Elphaba's story. Cynthia Erivo?? What a jackpot.

Someone mentioned Neil Patrick Harris as the Wizard and I can not get that out of my head.

That would be interesting if all Minchin landers had English accents. Being from Australia it seems weird to imagine wicked with English rather than the American accents we used for the show down under.

The main thing making my nervous about the movie is just how long it’s been in development hell.

Honestly with Cynthia and Ariana’s casting it feels like a free for all with the other characters

I’m very much open to being pleasantly surprised. But it did make me very sad that Ariana fans came for Taylor, she was allowed to be sad. I also think the insta story was meant to be more ‘jokey’ and not a dig at anyone. I think the situation is a bit complicated but I talked a bit about it in a video I did on it too. :)

So excited for Cynthia Erivo!!!!

Yassss to Glenn Close. I am all for that!

I feel like Jordan Fischer would be a great Bach, but I agree an unknown actor would be great. I'm really excited to see who they cast as Nessa, I feel like they could find someone really cool to take on that role. I can't wait to see Ariana prove everyone wrong, and absolutely kill it. It's gonna be interesting to see how it all unfolds, but they're off to a great start with the casting choices so far.

I'd really love to see Catherine O'Hara as Madam Morrible. She could be like Moira Rose meets Dolores Umbridge and I need this in my life. I don't really care who gets cast as Fiyero, he's a boring character and he basically just exists for Glinda and Elphaba to fight over, which is such a tired trope at this point. Andre de Shields for the Wizard. Period. Also cast Ali Stroker as Nessa because she deserves the world!

i really hope idina and kristin have cameos, i think that’d be so cool :)

I would absolutely love Ryan McCartan to play Fiyero but I have a feeling that's not gonna happen

So considering that as this a mainstream film adaption, there was always going to be significant star casting - I'm glad that its for Glinda, as that is a role that can work with a well-known, well-loved and popular (heh) celebrity attached! I'm just hoping that they don't fall into the trap of casting similar caliber celebrities in all of the other roles, as that would kinda detract from it a little

OMG GLENN CLOSE AS MADAME MORRIBLE??? YES, THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN! But if we can't have her, I'd love to see Donna Murphy play the role.

I never comment but YES FOR DEV PATEL!

I'm struggling to picture the world as anything other than the OG Wizard of Oz set hahaha

I don't normally like ariana (my daughter LOVES her) but actually hearing her singing musicals she could be amazing..... either way..... it can't be worse then cats

honestly wouldn't be surprised if Idina is cast as Morrible

After hearing her sing The Wizard and I , I really wanted Ariana to play Elphaba and Dove Cameron to play Glinda (mostly cause she has played Kristin Chenoweth's daughter on 2 separate occasions plus her voice is fantastic). That being said I tend not to judge casting for musical films until I see the movie. But I am excited that the Wicked movie is finally really getting going.

Honestly when I heard Ariana sing The Wizard and I a few years back I was dying for her to be in this movie! I actually think her voice suits musical theatre more than Pop music! 💚

I love this video. Your energy it's so positive & you are so sweet about everything. Ariana is gonna do amazing! I'm happy this role is enabling her to showcase how great of triple threat she is. For anyone who is concerned whether she can pull off Glinda's characteristic singing, just watch the podcast she did with Eric Vetro in which she shows her brodaway singing & her collab with andre bocelli "e piú ti penso". PS: I watched somewhere that there are going to be 3 new songs + one that was cut from the show.

ariana is already working with Nancy banks acting coach who worked with margot robbie and emma stone.i understand people being worry about her acting but she loves this role and musical so much she gonna give everything for this movie I hope.

Ariana grande also had popular song with Mika for i think it was the wicked anniversary album, correct me if I'm wrong so she really loves wicked and i think she'll be great

All I can say is it's about time they finally got this movie going. I was so excited in highschool when they started talking about it. I have since graduated, gone to and graduated from college.

Interesting observation about Erivo's age playing Elphaba reminded me of this fun fact: much was made back in the day of Diana Ross when she played Dorothy in the movie version of "The Wiz" because she was in her (late) 30s, playing a schoolteacher in her (late) 20s, instead of a teenage farm girl

I have no high hopes for Ariana being cast as Glinda, especially since it reeks of blatant Hollywood nepotism. I’d accept it if she was a good actress and sang musical theatre songs with proper diction, but after seeing her in hairspray, I just know that she’s going to make Glinda into another version of herself instead of the other way around. Everyone in the comments is pretty much saying “we’ll accept Ari because (insert generic characteristic she has)”, but can’t we say that’s just not enough at this point? There are thousands of unknown actresses out there who would play this role much better than Ariana Grande. It’s only her fame that landed her it. We saw this with Emma Watson as Belle, and it’s just not enough to share a few basic characteristics with the character you’re playing anymore. You have to BECOME them when acting, which Ariana can’t do. Her fame along with the bad acting genuinely makes every character she plays herself and not the character. You can’t see anyone other than Grande, and it’s tiring.

Wow I just remembered my Cat & Jade Victorious friendship fanfic I wrote in January 2012 based on a weird dream I had with them singing "For Good" as a duet to celebrate Cat basically not dying from an illness