What The Cast Of Wicked Looks Like In Real Life

Fans of Gregory Maguire's book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," were thrilled when it was announced the story would become a Broadway show. Debuting in October 2003 with musical powerhouses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, "Wicked" was the ingenuous imagining of what went down before Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West fought over Dorothy in Oz. The musical picked up multiple Tony Awards and was still churning out performances in theaters over 20 years later. 

"Wicked" excitement ramped up to a million degrees when another big announcement happened in 2016 — that the movie version would be released in December 2019. Everyone began hotly anticipating and debating who would take on the roles of Elphaba the Wicked Witch and Glinda the Good Witch, along with multiple characters. As each cast member was announced, reactions were mixed, with some loving and some hating on the actors picked for all the iconic roles. Audiences had to wait, though, to find out how Hollywood's choices panned out, with multiple obstacles pushing back the movie's premiere all the way to November 2024.

Finally, with the students and teachers at Shiz University firmly ensconced, and the wizard tucked behind the curtain, fans got to see "Wicked's" cinematic interpretation of Elphaba's green skin and Glinda's glowing goodness. Behind the outfits and makeup, though, the actors showed up to the film's red carpet premieres sporting quite different looks.

Fiyero is the love of Elphaba's life, from the moment he helped her save a cute a little baby tiger cub to more treacherous moments with the Wicked Witch of the West. "Wicked" casting agents were spot on when they chose Jonathan Bailey to play the charming student with princely ties. There wasn't much of a transformation needed to turn Bailey into Fiyero, but a few tweaks helped cement his character's persona. The actor's hair was lightened, and he was given a clean-shaven face. On-screen, Fiyero's wardrobe is rich, but not over the top — a definite contrast to Bailey's own personal style, which leans toward the edgy side of fashion (witness the disco-ball shirt above). 

There was one particular jacket, though, that was designed to help Bailey in his role. As he was dancing and moving around, he became overheated — but luckily, the jacket was designed to house a cooling unit just under the chest area to help the actor keep his body temperature in check.  

If you're trying to place where you know Bailey from, it may help to picture him with an ascot tied around his neck. The Oxfordshire-born actor starred as Lord Anthony Bridgerton in the Netflix series "Bridgerton" (he was the older brother, who fell in love with Lady Kathani "Kate" Sharma.) And, in a neat little connection, he's also slated to appear in 2025's "Jurassic World Rebirth," adding him to the same franchise film series as "Wicked" co-star Jeff Goldblum.

Actor Jeff Goldblum is pretty magical on his own, so earning his role as the wonderful Wizard of Oz in the movie "Wicked" could almost be considered typecasting. In real life, he's usually wearing a pair of glasses and has let his naturally dark hair merge into a short gray pompadour. For his role in the film, he lost the glasses and refined his devil-may-care stubble (sometimes a full beard) into a thin mustache and tiny soul patch. His mane was pumped up into a delicious wave of which Donald J. Trump himself would be jealous.

The Oscar-nominated actor shared on Instagram how much he loved being a part of the movie. "The magical dream of a lifetime to be on this journey — bringing 'Wicked' to the silver screen — both an honor and a privilege to work alongside such incandescent and powerful talents," he wrote.

You may recognize Goldblum for his 2024 commercials for Apartments.com, but if you're a movie buff, you'll know him from a plethora of cinematic greats like "The Big Chill," "The Fly," "Jurassic Park," and "Independence Day." The great and powerful Oz has spoken — and he said Jeff Goldblum's name.

Elphaba is labeled wicked, but it's really Madame Morrible who deserves the label in the story of "Wicked." The headmistress manipulates her green student into a world of trouble and does it all while looking almost grandmotherly with her white hair and decorative robes. In real life, Yeoh is a little less matronly than Madame Morrible but no less commanding. Past red-carpet appearances have seen the actor with long, dark tresses, but for multiple "Wicked" premieres, she sported a bold blonde bob — whether it was a wig or the real deal, it's representative of Yeoh's strong style. Her wardrobe isn't quite as sedate as her character's either, with the Oscar-winner opting for sleek lines and modern silhouettes. 

Yeoh seamlessly blended into her role as the evil Morrible, but it wasn't because she had studied the famous Broadway musical. She revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that when director Jon M. Chu asked her to read the script, she didn't know anything about the story he was pitching. "I, at that point, had no clue what he was talking about because I had not seen 'Wicked' the musical before," she explained.

Yeoh is a total chameleon when it comes to her movie roles, so it may be hard to place her. She was the aristocratic Eleanor Young in "Crazy Rich Asians," and the sword-yielding Yu Shu Lien in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Her role as harried laundromat owner Evelyn Wang battling the IRS and mysterious evils in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" earned her a golden Oscar. 

Before she became known as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba was just a girl with a skin condition trying to graduate from Shiz University. The role was played by Cynthia Erivo, whose real-life look is nothing like her movie character's. The actor is known for her shaved head and shaved brows, or at the very least a very close-cropped cut. She also has several piercings, through her nose and various parts of her ears. Her fashion vibe is modern and edgy, a stark contrast to Elphaba's all-black and conservative wardrobe.

The two biggest challenges turning Erivo into Elphaba were her green skin and her hair. After much trial and error, the right formula for the makeup applied to the actor's face and hands was finally mixed together, a blend of one green product with the addition of neon yellow. The hair was a wig consisting of micro-braids, with a set of faux brows also created. All told, it took over two hours each morning to prep Erivo for the cameras.

Erivo is no stranger to fans of the theater, and the Wicked actor probably looks familiar because of a few different projects. The London-born actor won a Tony Award for her performance in the musical "The Color Purple," and has starred on both Broadway in the United States and onstage in London's West End. She's also made quite the splash on the silver screen, picking up two Oscar nominations for the movie "Harriet." 

Ariana Grande is recognizable as Galinda/Glinda the Good Witch in the movie "Wicked," but there are some big differences from the singer's real-life look. As Galinda (who changes her name to Glinda during the movie), she's dressed in myriad pink outfits with lots of detail — in fact, there are 25 distinct looks in total, following the character from Shiz University to the heart of Oz and beyond. There's also a mass of blond hair, accessorized and curled into perfection. Grande herself isn't afraid to wear pink, especially during her promotions of "Wicked," but it isn't an exclusive choice. She also prefers a more chic silhouette in real life, as opposed to the candy-sweet wardrobe of Galinda. And you won't see one of the singer's most famous trademark looks, which is a slicked-back ponytail, usually brunette in nature. 

The differences are an intentional choice, especially on the part of Grande. Frances Hannon, makeup artist on "Wicked," told 9honey Style about their initial planning session to discuss Galinda's look. "The first day I met her she said, 'I don't want to bring anything from [my] life into our film.'" The artist went on to explain how Grande's hair and eyebrows were bleached for the role, with brow touch-ups done almost weekly.

Grande's on-screen look has come a long way since her days as red-velvet-tressed Cat on the Nickelodeon series "Victorious," a role she later admitted wasn't her favorite. She's since firmly cemented herself in pop princess territory with multiple number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and numerous Grammy nominations and wins.