Cynthia Erivo Says They're Deciding 'How Green We're Gonna Go' as Elphaba for 'Wicked' Movie

"I think it will help me perform," Cynthia Erivo said of transforming into Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the upcoming Wicked film

Cynthia Erivo
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Cynthia Erivo is ready to get "greenified" for the upcoming Wicked film!

The Tony Award-winning actress — who was cast as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical — said that she's looking forward to transforming into the green girl now that pre-production has begun.

"I haven't seen myself as Elphaba yet," Erivo, 35, told Entertainment Tonight. "We're sort of trying to decide, like, how green we're gonna go and, like, what the stages are and whether or not it changes as she changes."

Cynthia Erivo
Steve Granitz/WireImage

The Color Purple star also discussed working alongside the film's director, Jon M. Chu, saying that "he's really open to making this as creative as we possibly can."

"He asked me at one point if I wanted to be actually green or CGI green and I was like, 'I'd like to actually be green because I'm not sure that the CGI will sit the way you need it to sit,' " she added. "I want it to still feel like it's my skin."

Explaining that she would be "happy to sit in makeup for hours and hours to go green," the Grammy Award winner told ET that the physical transformation "will help me when I look at myself and see a green person."

"I will feel like I'm playing this character as opposed to looking at myself as I am now and then they fill in the green," she continued. "I think it will help me perform because I will know when I look at my hands, I'll see someone who is green."

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In February, Erivo revealed that she and Ariana Grande — who will play Glinda — have "been meeting and chatting and talking and building our own relationship" ahead of filming.

"We know that it's a sisterhood and we want to be ready and prepared to be there for one another," she told E!'s Laverne Cox at the time. "So it's that, and Jon is amazing so we're just sort of waiting to start. We're ready to rehearse and get into it."

Earlier this month, Erivo also said that she and the "7 Rings" singer, 28, have forged a special bond since learning they'd be costars.

" 'For Good,' when we get to doing that, I think that will be a very special moment for us," she told E! at the 2022 Grammy Awards, referencing the musical's powerful duet. "There's a song called 'For Good,' and it's about friendship."

Wicked debuted on Broadway in October 2003 with Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, and Joel Grey as the original cast members playing Elphaba, Glinda, and the Wizard, respectively.

The original Broadway production won three Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards, as well as a Grammy Award.

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