This article contains spoilers from Wicked: For Good.
The most emotional moment in Wicked: For Good was almost cut from the movie, but director Jon M. Chu fought to keep that scene, according to Ariana Grande. The first film featured several fun and upbeat songs like “Dancing Through Life,” “Popular,” and the powerful anthem “Defying Gravity.”
However, the sequel, Wicked: For Good, was darker and more emotional, which was reflected in the music, with “For Good” serving as the climactic anchor.
Elphaba and Glinda’s emotional scene after performing “For Good,” in which they say goodbye while on either side of a door, was almost cut from Wicked: For Good, as revealed by Grande on the Shut Up Evan podcast. Without naming names, she revealed that “certain people” wanted that scene cut from the film.
Fortunately, Chu “fiercely…advocated” for the door scene to stay put. Grande called it “one of the most beautiful and connected moments” in either Wicked or Wicked: For Good, and expressed her gratitude to the director for making sure it wasn’t cut.
It was a really heavy day. There was actually a conversation about…certain people wanted to cut that shot. Jon was like, ‘This is the movie. There is no question about it.’ I was so grateful for how fiercely he advocated for those honest moments. It’s one of the most beautiful and connected moments in both of the movies. I’m so grateful that it’s there. It’s tough. It was very hard emotionally.
Chu may have saved the door scene from hitting the cutting room floor, but that moment wouldn’t have happened at all if it weren’t for Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s on-the-spot improvisation.
The other day, Chu revealed (via Variety) that during rehearsals for Elphaba and Glinda’s parting of the ways, Erivo pulled Grande aside to a corner of the room and put the pop singer in a “box or a closet“.
The director wasn’t sure what was going on at first, but then he saw that Erivo had created a makeshift door between the two actresses that heightened the emotion of the scene, causing him to “weep“.
Chu realized, “This is the movie. There is no question about it“.
It was in rehearsals that we found it. Cynthia grabs her and says, ‘Come here.’ And I’m like, where are they going? And they go to this corner, and she puts her in a box or a closet.
The reason why “certain people” wanted to cut the door scene was because, apparently, characters in the world of Oz are “not allowed to say, ‘I love you,’” according to Chu.
You’re not allowed to say ‘I love you’ in Oz. No God, no okay, no I love you…[but Ariana saying it] was so human. It crossed over a boundary of Oz into our world.
It may have been “very hard emotionally” for Grande to film Glinda’s goodbye with Elphaba, but the scene’s inclusion made their departure have an even bigger impact than in the Broadway musical.
During their goodbyes to each other, Elphaba made Glinda promise that she would keep up the ruse about the so-called “Wicked Witch“, after which Elphaba seemingly died when Dorothy threw a bucket of water at her. This scheme allowed Elphaba to escape with Fiyero out of Oz at the end of Wicked: For Good.
“For Good” was already an extremely emotional moment. That performance alone would have been enough to sell the impact of best friends Elphaba and Glinda saying goodbye. After all, that’s how it unfolds in the Broadway show.
However, Erivo and Grande’s close bond and their idea for the door scene ensured that sniffles would be heard in movie theaters all over the world.
Chu’s filmmaking decisions across both Wicked and Wicked: For Good have been praised for a variety of reasons, including the fact that audiences have connected with Elphaba and Glinda in a way they might not have been able to while watching the stage musical.
