Jeff Goldblum on Jimmy Kimmel Live.Photo: Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube
Jeff Goldblumis heading to the Emerald City!
The actor, 70, confirmedreportsthat he’s starring as the Wizard in thetwo-part film adaptionof the hit musicalWickedduring an appearance onJimmy Kimmel LiveThursday.
“I was just on the set ofWicked. I’m not supposed to talk about that. But it’s been out and about,” Goldblum said as he revealed his sons —Charlie, 7, and River, 5— had joined him on the set of the movie in London.
TheJurassic Parkstar also toldKimmelhe has shown his kidsThe Wizard of Oz, but the film classic wasn’t a hit with them. “We showed themThe Wizard of Oz, one of my favorite movies. It was too scary for them,” Goldblum said. “The witch is terrifying. Margaret Hamilton, terrifying.”
Goldblum then teased ofWickedand his costars, “You should see our witches —Cynthia ErivoandAriana Grande— very good.”
Erivo and Grande were cast as the leads Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in November 2021. In September 2022, Bridgerton starJonathan Baileywas announced astaking on the role of Fiyero, the main love interest in the musical.
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While Goldblum didn’t divulge any more details about the movie during his appearance, the star did discuss how he had a childhood fear of witches because of a nightmare, with the fear resurfacing during filming.
“I shouldn’t talk about it, but I was shooting one day and I found myself tearing up in fear, a childhood fear came back to me,” he told Kimmel. Goldblum revealed he told his costar Erivo about the nightmare, which involved a “very scary witch” who tied him to a tree and was “going to chop my head off.”
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty; Universal Stage Production; Rich Fury/Getty Images
“With more space, we can tell the story ofWickedas it was meant to be told,” Chu said in April 2022 in a post announcing the two films, noting that “a bigger canvas” would allow the creative team the space to include as many musical numbers and characters as possible. He added that trying to “wrestle” the story into one film would do “real damage” to it.
WickedPart 1 is due in theaters Nov. 27, 2024.
source: people.com
