The Crazy Rich Asians director returned to the UK for the Premiere of Wicked: Part One. Report by Nelsonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00John, excellent pair of glasses, my friend. Congratulations on the movie.
00:05It's getting a lot of love already, a lot of excitement.
00:08I've got to say for you, as a process though, taking on one of the world's most beloved musicals,
00:13with some of the most recognised musical numbers in a film of this scale,
00:18where was the experience for you on the line of utterly terrifying and a thrill a second?
00:25Well, you know, it's my job to not be terrified, but secretly when I go home,
00:29yes, I'm terrified, I have nightmares.
00:31But what I do is I know it's time to get to work when I feel those things.
00:35So we put in a lot of work. We did our homework, we studied Oz,
00:38we studied the Denzel drawings from the L. Frank Baum books,
00:40we studied the old movies, every rendition of those, we studied the musical.
00:44And when you do enough, then you start to find where it lies for you.
00:49And that's what we really leaned into.
00:51I think we couldn't be too scared too often.
00:54And we have Cynthia and Ari who killed these roles,
00:57and we have Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh and Johnny Bailey.
01:00So we're very lucky that every day we're painting something new
01:03and we're linked arms and doing it together.
01:05When you hear from some of these stars about their experience on set,
01:07they talked about how creatively it was really enriching and exciting
01:11because as soon as someone turns up, you see how they're going to approach it
01:14and what number they're going to hit.
01:15It can change your own perspective on what you might be doing.
01:19I know certain movies are made by numbers and very specific.
01:22This is a shot we want here.
01:23How much did this film change during the process of making it
01:27because of the performances that were in front of you?
01:30We have some basic architectural things that are built in.
01:33We have Bible lines that are from the show.
01:36Some were in question, like can that work in a movie or can that not?
01:39And we would play with that on set.
01:40And others we thought would work.
01:42And then in the edit, we would cut out.
01:44And then some we didn't even put in the script.
01:46And on the day, we were like, we've got to put that line in.
01:49So everything was always up for grabs,
01:52but that's kind of the way I like to make movies.
01:55If you could think about it in your bed and write it in a meeting,
01:58then it's not good enough.
02:00The magic to movies is something that only could have happened that day.
02:03So I'm constantly thinking, and we always say,
02:07at some point, the movie starts to speak back at you,
02:10and you better be listening to that.
02:11So when we're making the movie, we're listening every day to what's happening
02:15to try to dig something out that could never happen any other day.
02:18And how did you feel sort of corralling the likes of Cynthia Erivo,
02:21Ariana Grande, who've got these incredible voices,
02:24and there must be a certain moment where you think,
02:26okay, well, I'm the boss.
02:27I'm the filmmaker.
02:28I know how films are made.
02:29But then when somebody sings like that to you,
02:31there's only so much you can say to like,
02:33here's my thoughts on what you just did.
02:35Oh, yeah.
02:36It was less about telling them what to do and more about like,
02:39is this the right thing that we're saying?
02:42I mean, there was a certain – they were great.
02:47We did a lot of talking about what we're trying to say early in the movie,
02:50so by the time we're on set, they're doing their thing.
02:52It's when you got Johnny in there with them,
02:55and you got Bowen in there with them,
02:56and suddenly it was wild because they're just having fun,
03:00and I'm trying to keep them focused.
03:02So sometimes I felt like a teacher.
03:04Well, congratulations, man.
03:05That's the best part of it.
03:06The teaching has paid off.
03:09Not teacher as in that.
03:10I mean like a chaperone.
03:11Oh, chaperone.
03:12Hold hands.
03:13I didn't teach them anything.
03:14Nobody drinks too much on set.