Jeff Goldblum, who plays the Wizard of Oz in Wicked, has found similarities in the Wizard and his Thor: Ragnarok character Grandmaster.
Goldblum explained: “Everything you do leaves its residue in your nervous system and in your heart somewhere. I wanted to make this distinct, but [the Grandmaster] had some kind of avatar of himself and is a self-glorifying nincompoop. And he’s an abuser of power and has a position of authority.”
“Real power is not just a position of authority, but as we see in this movie, something having to do with the connection to yourself and the ability to make beautiful things and impact others,” he continued. “That’s real power.”
Speaking about Wicked, he said: “It’s a timeless story. Around the world there are many circumstances where not the most enlightened path is taken by leadership and others. Here we are again in this situation of the movie where I say, ‘You got to give somebody a real good enemy.'”
In Thor: Ragnarok, the Grandmaster ruled over the planet Sakaar, where he made his slaves do gladiatorial contests and indulged in hedonistic acts. The Wizard, on the other hand, also misuses power and persecutes the animals of Oz.
Alongside Jeff Goldblum, Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, and Marissa Bode. Wicked part 1 is now in theaters.
