Lin-Manuel Miranda hoped to play a minor role in the film adaptation of Wicked but his casting request was denied, he said during a Monday appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
“In the opening number of the show, this one munchkin runs out and goes, ‘Is it true you were her friend?’ Because, man, I don’t know if you’ve seen a live production of Wicked, but sometimes they really put some sauce on the ball when they deliver that line,” Miranda told Colbert.
The Wicked director Jon M. Chu went on to cast Kirsty Anne Shaw in the role. After that line is delivered, Ariana Grande’s Glinda begins to reflect on her past relationships with the now-ostracized Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo.
“It’s where the story starts,” Miranda added. “So I was like, ‘I really wanted to do that line, Jon.’ And I was not cast.”
Miranda had previously worked with Chu on the 2021 musical In the Heights. Chu directed the musical, with Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes penning the screenplay. Since their collaboration, Miranda has composed music for Disney musicals including The Little Mermaid, Moana 2, and Mufasa: The Lion King. If he starred in the pink- and green-tinted blockbuster, “it would’ve been distracting” he told Colbert.
“The young woman who does it in the movie is great,” Miranda said, referring to Shaw. “She does it very earnestly. I would have done very Regina George, Mean Girls-like, ‘Is it true you were her friend?’ Didn’t make the cut.”
Since creating and starring in the Tony-winning musical Hamilton, Miranda has since returned to the stage in All In: Comedy About Love, a comedy that details stories of dating, heartbreak, and marriage. Miranda also made a surprise appearance as the praised Alexander Hamilton during an episode of Saturday Night Live last month.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
