Michelle Yeoh reveals she didn’t know what 'Wicked' was when Jon M. Chu asked her to star in it

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Michelle Yeoh was clueless about “Wicked” when director Jon M. Chu first approached her about it.

• What she’s saying: Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s Los Angeles premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday, Yeoh, 62, confessed that she had no clue what Chu was talking about when he first tapped her for the role of Madame Morrible. Yeoh explained that she had not seen the musical and that she had not been to theaters for quite a while. While on a video call with Chu, Grande and Erivo, the “Crazy Rich Asians” star said Chu insisted it was “imperative” for her to join the cast. Addressing her role’s singing component, Yeoh admitted she was “terrified” at first, but after working with a coach, she realized it was actually fun. “The process of exercising, learning to use the muscles in a different way, was actually very, very good for me because it helps with my voice as an actor,” she said.

• Critics’ reactions: “Wicked,” a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” received positive reviews from critics who saw it ahead of its Los Angeles premiere. One described the movie as a “masterpiece”; another wrote that Erivo and Grande “knock it out of the park.” Meanwhile, one reviewer teased that the “world is not ready for how great [“Wicked”] is” and that “Ariana and Cynthia will blow you away.” The movie arrives in cinemas on Nov. 22.

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