At a Los Angeles screening of his upcoming adaptation of the Broadway hit “Wicked,” director Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians”) alluded to the recent elections when describing how the film embodies what he calls “American History”.

“Happiness is the goal, but really expressing yourself, maybe showing a little anger, that’s good,” Chu said in a discussion about the film. “Maybe we’ll fight, maybe we’ll agree, and we’ll have to get along, and in the end maybe we’ll have to forgive each other, give each other some grace. Because the only way out is through it. »

“So I love it,” the director continued. “This is American history as we have told it over and over again. And we have more opportunities to do that now, and it’s rooted in that history, and it’s always been that, at least for me.

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Later in the chat, Chu discussed his co-star Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda (the future Good Witch of the North). Her performance, Chu said, was not “an imitation” of Billie Burke, who played Glinda in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939).

“It inspired me, of course it’s in her, but having the freedom to then just be in in-game situations, that was the improvisation of being in Glinda. I could put a chair down and say, okay, Glinda, go jump over it. And she would die. Glinda would jump over, I don’t even know Glinda, but that’s how she would do it. It was incredible to watch. And I remember thinking: I’m discovering this person, even though he’s the most famous person in the world.

Later in the Q&A, Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba (the future Wicked Witch of the West), explained how she approached the character.

“There’s this strange abandonment she feels because of her father, and then there’s this complicated relationship she has with her sister, and then you know she has to figure out how she wants to be loved, because ‘she doesn’t really know it’s like everyone else I deeply understood what it meant to feel like an author, like a strange, different,’ she said, adding: ‘usually, when I. ‘walk into the room, I really look very different from the most fabulous ones.’

“It wasn’t as fabulous. I had to grow up in that sense. So I knew what it felt like to feel alone in there. And I definitely know what it’s like to have a really difficult relationship, and what it’s like to be an older sister trying to give your younger sister some space. I also know what it feels like to try to connect with people, you have to figure out how to come back and deal with that and I also know what it feels like to have to figure out how to forgive and connect,” Erivo continued.