Wicked Casts Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero

By Jamie Jirak

Wicked is one of the most popular musicals to ever hit Broadway, and it's finally being turned into a movie after years of speculation and rumors. Last year, it was officially announced that Ariana Grande would be taking on the role of Glinda and Cynthia Erivo would be playing Elphaba with In the Heights director Jon M. Chu set to direct. Earlier today, Variety reported that Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey was in talks to play Fiyero, the role originated by Norbert Leo Butz. Chu has since confirmed the casting rumor on Twitter. 

"He's perfect, they're perfect. They'd be perfect together. Born to be forever..... I am too excited to pretend this hasn't been happening. We have a Fiyero!!!! #JonathanBailey #Wicked," Chu tweeted, quoting the song "Dancing Through Life." You can check out his post below:

Earlier this year, Chu announced that the Wicked movie would be released in two parts. 

"Here's what happened: As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of 'Wicked' into a single film without doing some real damage to it," Chu wrote in a statement. "As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one 'Wicked' movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of 'Wicked' as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters."

Wicked was based on Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the show was composed by Stephen Schwartz with a book by Winnie Holzman. There are many iconic songs in the musical, but the most famous is probably the first act closer, "Defying Gravity." During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Erivo talked about tackling the famous song.

"I've been listening to it, and I've sung it. I kind of just go with it naturally," Erivo explained while doing press for Disney's Pinocchio. "There's the temptation to push and to do too much with it. I don't know that that's what my method will be. I think my method will be to communicate the meaning of the song as much as I can."

Are you excited Jonathan Bailey has been cast as Fiyero? Tell us in the comments! 

Wicked's first part is expected to be released in December 2024. 

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