What the cast of Wicked looks like in real life

From a pop star to a Tony Award winner and a few Hollywood legends to top it off, the Wicked movie cast is stacked with star power.

The upcoming film is a highly-anticipated big screen adaptation of the popular music of the same name, which started on Broadway back in 2003.

The story is a prequel to the events that take place in The Wizard of Oz and reveals an unlikely friendship between the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West – otherwise known as Elphaba – and the pink-clad Glinda the Good Witch of the South.

The new Wicked movie stars Tony winner Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and pop princess Ariana Grande as Glinda.

Joining them on-screen is a star-studded cast including the likes of Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Bridgerton heartthrob Jonathan Bailey.

With the stars set to make an appearance on Sunday, November 3 in Sydney for the Australian premiere, swipe to see what the cast of Wicked looks like when they're not in their best Land of Oz looks.

Here's Cynthia Erivo as the iconic Wicked Witch of the West, known simply as Elphaba Thropp, back in her school days at Shiz University.

Wicked follows Elphaba forming an unlikely friendship with her polar-opposite roommate Glinda, leading to a love triangle with the school's "bad boy" Fiyero.

Elphaba's magical talents catch the attention of headmistress Madame Morrible – and the Wizard of Oz himself.

Cynthia Erivo looks probably the most different to her on-screen character – after all, she doesn't walk around the streets every day covered in green paint!

Erivo rose to fame after starring in the 2015 Broadway production of The Color Purple as Celie, which won her a Tony.

The actress and singer has also starred in films like Harriet and the 2022 live-action adaption of Pinocchio.

Read all about her transformation into Elphaba for the Wicked movie here. 

Pop star Ariana Grande stars as the bubble-travelling Glinda the Good Witch of the South.

The film follows Glinda – or Galinda as she was once known – back when she was in school and roommates with Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West. 

We're used to seeing Ariana Grande with her high brunette ponytail and winged eyeliner, but for Wicked she underwent a complete transformation to be the blonde, pink-clad Glinda we all know and love.

While Grande rose to fame in the 2010s on the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, she is arguably best known for her music.

Grande has become one of the most well-known pop stars of the last decade with hit songs like thank u, next, 7 rings, dangerous woman and many, many more.

The singer won the 2019 Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Award for her album Sweetener. She won a second Grammy in 2021 for her duet, Rain On Me, with Lady Gaga.

What some fans might not know is Grande got her start on Broadway when she was just a teenager in the musical 13.

Over the years, Grande has spoken about how much she loves Wicked, even calling Glinda a "dream role" in a 2011 tweet. 

Upon his arrival at Shiz University, "bad boy" and prince Fiyero (played by Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey) first catches the attention of the most popular girl in school, Glinda.

But beyond his troublesome exterior, Fiyero ends up forming a close bond with Elphaba, leading to a love triangle emerging between the main three friends.

Many of us know Jonathan Bailey as the eldest Bridgerton brother Anthony in the wildly popular historical drama series, Bridgerton.

After rising to fame on the show, Bailey has starred in several major projects including the series Fellow Travelers, for which he won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Bailey has also appeared in shows like Broadchurch and Crashing, and will star in the upcoming Jurassic Park instalment, Jurassic World Rebirth, alongside Scarlett Johansson.

Who can forget The Wizard himself, played by Hollywood legend Jeff Goldblum?

While we discover in The Wizard of Oz that he's nothing but a fraud, Wicked follows The Wizard while he's still in his prime as he invites Elphaba to visit him in the Emerald City after hearing of her incredible magical powers.

Jeff Goldblum hardly needs an introduction.

The actor has been one of the biggest names in Hollywood for decades, starring in the original 1993 cult classic Jurassic Park, Independence Day, The Fly, and many more major films.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Goldblum opened up about how he joined the Wicked movie, revealing he went and saw the musical with the original Broadway lineup before being cast.

"I was a mess," he said.

"I didn't know what it was. Somebody said, 'Oh, there's a hot ticket,' and I went in. I had been such a fan for the movie [1939's The Wizard of Oz]…"

"I've shown my kids that movie, and I'm very emotional at that movie," he continued.

Before they were the most well-known witches in the Land of Oz, Elphaba and Glinda were students at Shiz University, run by the magical headmistress Madame Morrible.

Played by Michelle Yeoh, the power-hungry headmistress sees potential in Elphaba's raw magical talents.

Yeoh is another big name in Hollywood.

The actress is known for her performances in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians and Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings among others.

In 2023 she won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

After being cast in Wicked, Yeoh said in a May 2023 interview the movie was her "trying something new".

"I'm trying something new right now, filming John Chu's Wicked movie, which will be my first musical," she said at the Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, per People.

"It was a risk, but you will never know which doors will open for you unless you try them all."

Yes, that is a goat.

During when Wicked is set, animals in the Land of Oz not only can speak but are in all sorts of working positions in society.

Mr. Dillamond here, voiced by the iconic Peter Dinklage, is one of Elphaba and Glinda's professors at the Shiz University. 

The voice behind the goat is none other than Hollywood great Peter Dinklage.

Dinklage has appeared in everything from Game of Thrones to Cyrano and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Comedian Bowen Yang is best known as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live.

Over the last few years he has started to work in acting.

He's done voice acting for animated films like The Garfield Movie and The Tiger's Apprentice.

Speaking to People, Yang said wrapping Wicked was "really emotional".

"Everyone was on this really crazy journey to make these movies, and everyone had different journeys, but I feel like mine was pretty intimately with every other student at Shiz [University], and that included most of the cast," he said.

"My wrap day was really emotional. I got to see Michelle Yeoh, and that was really special."

Marissa Bode stars as Elphaba's younger sister Nessarose.

Elphaba attends Shiz University to help her sister, who uses a wheelchair.

Actress Marissa Bode had starred in a few local productions and a short film before being cast as Nessarose in Wicked.

The actress is making history in the upcoming movie as the first wheelchair user to play the character. 

"I'm genuinely so honoured that it's me doing that," she told Variety.

"Seeing somebody authentically cast like that on screen is just so important, especially in something so cool and so magical as Wicked."

Ethan Slater's character Boq is a munchkin who is interested in Glinda, the most popular in the school.

But at Glinda's encouragement, he pursues a relationship with Nessarose. 

Ethan Slater is best known for starring in the Broadway musical SpongeBob SquarePants, where he played the titular underwater character.

His performance earned him a Tony Award nomination for Lead Actor in 2018.

Slater made headlines for his personal life in 2023 after it was reported he was dating his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande.