Michelle Yeoh says taking her Wicked movie role was a 'risk'

Michelle Yeoh didn't become the first Asian woman to win a Best Actress Oscar by playing it safe.

She's fought crouching tigers and hidden dragons, traversed the multiverse, and explored the final frontier. But singing in a musical? Yeoh calls that a risk.

In an interview at the Fifth Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival in Fukuoka, Japan, Yeoh discussed taking on the role of Madame Morrible in the upcoming adaptation of the beloved musical Wicked.

"I'm trying something new right now — filming Jon Chu's Wicked movie, which will be my first musical," Yeoh said. "It's very exciting, and I can't wait for you all to see it. It was a risk, but you will never know which doors will open for you unless you try them all."

Yeoh previously worked with Chu on Crazy Rich Asians. And though Wicked is her first musical, Yeoh did show off some of her vocal chops in Everything Everywhere All at Once, playing, among many other roles, a Peking opera star.

In the Wicked musical, Madame Morrible is the headmistress of Shiz University, the magical alma mater of Glinda (who'll be played by Ariana Grande in the film) and Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo). Yeoh be following in the evil steps of past Madames Morrible such as Rue McClanahan, Carol Kane, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Wicked, which will be divided into two films, will premiere its first part on Christmas Day 2024 and its second on Christmas Day 2025.

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