Whether or not you’re a passionate theater kid, Wicked — a Broadway production that’s been adapted for the big screen — has taken the pop culture world by storm.
Ariana Grande stars as Glinda the Good Witch, who is most often clad in a bubblegum pink palette, while Cynthia Erivo takes on the role of Elphaba in all of her green, witchy glory. And it’s the latter that requires quite a bit of extra backstage glam.
How Cynthia Erivo Gets Green
As Glinda’s character so obviously points out in the theatrical trailer, Elphaba’s skin is a warm shade of green — and Erivo herself revealed in an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers just how long it took to transform each day on set.
“If it was just head, hands, neck, it would be two hours and 45 minutes to three hours. If it was head, full arms, chest, and legs, it could take three and a half hours. If it was full body — four hours and 30 minutes every morning before we got on set,” she explained.
Erivo also wore prosthetic ears throughout the film, simply because she has nearly 30 piercings and didn’t want to waste precious time taking out each stud.
Although Wicked Part 2 will not be released for another year, Erivo admits she will always carry the character with her.
“I don’t know if I can leave Elphaba behind completely,” she says. “She’s got a part of my heart.”
How Mary Kate Morrissey De-Greens
While Erivo is our cinematic Elphaba, Mary Kate Morrissey plays the same emerald-hued lead on Broadway’s iconic stage. Currently, she greens (and de-greens) a total of six times a week.
In an Instagram Reel, she shared exactly what that de-greening process looks like.
“I do this every day, and I really don’t want to be pulling around my eyes,” Morrissey said in the video. She points to the Garnier All-In-One Waterproof Micellar Water and the Micellar Cleansing Eco Pads as the gentle duo that helps get the job done as quickly as possible. She admits, however, that she “always [has] a little bit of a green hairline.”
In that sense, Morrissey carries a part of Elphaba with her long after the curtains close, too.
