Wicked's Ethan Slater & Marissa Bode Can't Stop Praising Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo (Exclusi…
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00:00I have to say welcome to Munchkinland.
00:01Thank you so much.
00:02Welcome. This is your territory, sir.
00:04I know. It feels good to be home.
00:05It feels good to be home.
00:06There's no place like home.
00:07Something bad is happening in Oz.
00:11The best way to bring folks together
00:14is to give them a real good enemy.
00:22You have no real power.
00:25That's why I need you.
00:27So we know that Ariana and Cynthia
00:29can bring down the house with those vocals.
00:31But what is it that you will never forget
00:33about hearing them sing live
00:36together for the first time?
00:39I had, when they were filming Popular,
00:41I kind of snuck in for that
00:43and just hearing them
00:45and just
00:47yeah, it was
00:49See, they have me speechless again
00:51because genuinely
00:53it's just like the love and the passion
00:55that they have in those vocals
00:57is just out of this world.
00:59And the way that they're able to like
01:01tell the story with those powerhouse vocals
01:03I think that's what makes it feel so special
01:05and like so special when you're like
01:07right up next to it, when you're like right in the room
01:09but I think it also like flies through the screen.
01:11It's been like a real honor
01:13to see it with people for the first time.
01:15Like audiences experiencing it
01:17and when you know
01:19The Wizard and I ended, it's a movie
01:21and yet everybody like uproariously
01:24applauded, you know, like you were in a Broadway theater
01:26but in this
01:28really special way because it like
01:30comes through and it's that
01:32connection to what they're doing
01:34and we were just talking about wanting to take care of the characters
01:36nobody wanted to take care of them more than Cynthia
01:38and Ariana
01:40and they fought for it like super fans
01:42It's amazing.
01:44They are super fans.
01:46You can room with Miss Galinda
01:48Popular
01:50I know about Popular
01:53Do you really think this is fair?
01:55I do not. I was promised
01:57a private suite, but thanks for asking.
01:59Well you know Bach does have this
02:01like infatuation with Galinda
02:03on screen, kind of like art imitating life
02:05in a way. What do you most appreciate
02:07about Ariana as a person
02:09and then also as an artist?
02:11Yeah, Ariana
02:13as an artist is
02:15really locked in
02:17and she's unbelievably funny
02:19She's like the funniest person on the planet
02:21Get rid of that
02:31And she's able to do that
02:33because she's really locked into the character
02:35so every take is like that and Cynthia is the same
02:37They kind of don't miss
02:39We might shoot a scene
02:41six times. Every version of it
02:43would be the best version you've ever seen
02:45It just happens that it's like slightly different each time
02:47because they're really lived in
02:50They're both just wonderful
02:52warm leaders and I think that was a
02:54really special thing to come into the set
02:56I don't know about you, but I was
02:58really intimidated by the idea
03:00of being in a cast with Ariana
03:02and with Cynthia and with Jeff Goldblum
03:04and with Michelle Yeoh and with Jonathan Bailey
03:06We're perfect. You're perfect.
03:08So we're perfect together
03:10Born to be
03:12forever
03:14Dancing through life
03:16They're just so good
03:18They're so good and I'm such a fan already
03:20As much work as you've done
03:22You were intimidated?
03:24Yeah, are you kidding me?
03:26They're unbelievable, but that intimidation
03:28kind of settled really quickly
03:30Like you were saying, the second we met
03:32each of them, it was just like
03:34we're in it together
03:36Well, Michelle Yeoh did win the Oscar while she was doing the movie
03:38Oh my god, and she came into the Osdorff Ballroom
03:40She came in the day after
03:42She flew back from LA
03:44to London
03:47and walked down the Osdorff stairs
03:49And it was so iconic
03:51It was like such a grand entrance
03:53It was so cool
03:55So cool
03:57You, come with me
03:59Of course
04:01Not you, you
04:03You're the one
04:05the wizard has been waiting for
04:07Do you remember
04:09that first time you came upon
04:11a John Chu set
04:13or the first time you were in Oz
04:16and what that moment was like
04:18versus like, heck yeah
04:20Well, I saw the set for the first thing we filmed
04:22which was the Diliman classroom scene
04:24and I had went in there early
04:26just to make sure accessibility wise
04:28everything was great
04:30and it was more than great
04:32they had a ramp to get up to the top of the class
04:34and the chairs and the desks swung
04:36so that it just falls into place
04:38for me
04:40which was great
04:42and then obviously the set itself
04:44I was like, why can't
04:46why couldn't my college classes look like that
04:48I don't know
04:50John Chu always has a feast for the eyes
04:52in whatever he does, doesn't it feel like that
04:54whatever movies he's directing
04:56I mean that's why I was so excited when I found out he was doing Wicked
04:58because, you know, In the Heights was beautiful
05:00Crazy Rich Asians was amazing
05:02and actually I think
05:04I already was kind of in
05:06but then I had the sort of privilege
05:08while auditioning of talking with him for like 25 minutes
05:10as sort of a callback
05:13and I remember leaving that and thinking
05:15well I don't know if I got it but this movie is going to be incredible
05:17and Nathan Crowley's sets
05:19are like surreal
05:21I mean you said, do you remember the first time
05:23I remember the first time I walked onto every single
05:25version of the set
05:27every time when I snuck onto Munchkinland
05:29just so I could see it because we didn't have any scenes there
05:31every one was just mind blowing
05:43I'm not afraid
05:45it's the wizard
05:47who should be afraid of me
05:49I know you know that these are
05:51some of the most coveted roles in Hollywood
05:53yes, absolutely
05:55and you have them
05:57it's a crazy way to put it
05:59but we can't ignore there is a pressure that comes with this
06:01because as the audience, we know the story
06:03we know the songs
06:05we love the songs, we know the imaging
06:07we want all that
06:09so when you're coming into this project
06:11and you're saying okay
06:13oh yeah
06:15I mean this is my
06:17first big role ever
06:19in general
06:21so yeah, definitely
06:23she's like damn
06:25what?
06:27yeah, literally speechless once again
06:29yeah, I think
06:31casting just everybody
06:33knowing how much we care
06:35and just have a deep understanding
06:37and love for the musical itself
06:40that eased the pressure
06:42amongst everybody
06:44and we're like oh yeah
06:46we got this, we know what's up
06:48and just reading the script
06:50and truly understanding
06:52and really reading in between
06:54every single line
06:56that took the pressure off
06:58and it was just important for us
07:00so that we could give the most authentic performance
07:02especially for fans who have loved it for so many years
07:04and you're a Broadway baby
07:06so you're like I can't go back to Broadway
07:09I mean everybody that I know
07:11who is 5'7 or under has played Bach
07:13and so I'm the last one to do it
07:15short king, we want short king
07:17listen, we do
07:19we stan the short king
07:21so I definitely felt like I got a lot to draw on
07:23too, you know, I just did a show called
07:25Spamalot, which we were talking about right before
07:27and I shared the stage with
07:29Chris Fitzgerald, who was the original Bach on Broadway
07:31and then I also shared the stage with Alex Brightman
07:33who was a Bach on Broadway
07:35maybe the longest running Bach on Broadway
07:37even just doing that show
07:39I was like oh I've got these great people to look up to
07:41so I think we all really
07:43want to do right by these characters
07:45and do right by Wicked
07:47because we are a part of that
07:49community and now
07:51we're really a part of that community
07:53it's kind of an honor to be a part of the Wicked legacy now