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Jeff Goldblum Confirms Role in ‘Wicked’ Movie Musical, Talks “Very Good” Witches Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande
Jeff Goldblum shared a brief tease about the set of Universal Pictures’ upcoming adaptation of Broadway mainstay Wicked.
The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that the Jurassic Park star was in talks to sign on to the Jon M. Chu-directed film as the Wizard, and he confirmed his role during Wednesday’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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“I was just on this set of Wicked. I’m not supposed to talk about that, but it’s been out and about,” he said while talking about one time when he brought his two sons, River and Charlie, to set.
He then explained to Kimmel that they showed his children “one of my favorite movies” – 1939’s The Wizard of Oz — but that it didn’t go over well with them. “It was too scary for them,” Goldblum said. “That witch is terrifying. Margaret Hamilton, terrifying.” He later added that they didn’t even make it through the whole movie.
While on the topic of witches, the Independence Day actor also mentioned his Wicked co-stars, saying, “You should see our witches, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, very good.”
Erivo was previously cast to play Elphaba, with Grande taking the role of Glinda in the film based on the novel by Gregory Maguire and its Broadway musical adaptation. Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey was later revealed to be playing love interest Fiyero and Michelle Yeoh will take on the role of Madame Morrible.
Goldblum went on to tell Kimmel about an emotional moment on set. “I shouldn’t talk about it, but I was shooting one day, and I found myself tearing up in fear, a childhood fear came back to me,” he recalled. He told his co-star Erivo about a nightmare he had as a child that involved a “very scary queen/witch,” who tied him to a tree stump and was “going to chop off my head.”
He said his two older brothers teased him about getting scared over the bad dream for weeks, but that “witches scare me.”
The big-screen adaptation is being divided up into two movies, with the first film set to be released Nov. 27, 2024, and the second coming the following year.
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