LOS ANGELES — The forged of “Wicked” is stacked with well-known names: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Peter Dinklage, Bowen Yang.
However one actor you probably don’t know is making “Wicked” historical past: Marissa Bode. The primary actor who authentically makes use of a wheelchair to play Nessarose, the “tragically beautiful” youthful sister of Depraved Witch-in-the-making Elphaba (Erivo) — Bode not solely leads one of many film’s most romantic scenes, but in addition creates what she hopes will probably be a watershed second for incapacity illustration in Hollywood.
“I love seeing disabled characters be played authentically by real disabled people, because no one knows us better than us,” Bode advised The Instances.
“Representation for authentically disabled people is already quite minimal, so to have the opportunity and make a point of it, especially in a huge project that’s beloved by so many people, that’s incredibly important, especially in terms of sending a message to other projects that it’s possible to include disabled people in your casts.”
Making her function movie debut, Bode got here to play the character, who’s used a wheelchair since beginning, by way of an open name. “It was a big, intense search,” mentioned the movie’s director Jon M. Chu, who acquired Bode’s submission late within the casting course of.
“You have to find someone who’s young, who can sing, who can act, who’s a wheelchair user and who has both the sweetness and the darkness of what happens in our story. And there was no compromising on any part of that.”
Bode, who started utilizing a wheelchair at age 11 after a automotive accident, noticed “Wicked” onstage as a preteen when her mother stunned her with tickets to a touring manufacturing close to her hometown of Mazomanie, Wisconsin.
Like Nessa, Bode additionally moved away for faculty — a call that originally nervous her mother and father and older brother — and graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles in 2021.
“I see a lot of myself in her, especially as somebody who’s disabled, going off to college and finally feeling like you have that freedom for the first time,” mentioned Bode, now 24 years previous. “I had that same eagerness she has, of wanting to be independent, make new friends and find your place in the world.”
Nessa sometimes asserts that autonomy in “Wicked.” In a single early scene, she voices her desire for maneuvering round Shiz College, the place she’s simply enrolled, with out assist — a need wholly understood by her sister, if not their overbearing father or the campus employees.
It’s a change from the “Wizard of Oz”-inspired stage present, which has by no means forged an genuine wheelchair consumer within the position in its blockbuster 21-plus 12 months run on Broadway or elsewhere. And it’s a results of the artistic staff’s frank conversations with real-life wheelchair customers, together with Tony-winning actress Ali Stroker.
“We really looked at that whole setup and worked hard to get it right,” mentioned Winnie Holzman, who created the stage present with composer Stephen Schwartz and co-wrote the movie’s script. “We knew how much it would mean to not just people who use wheelchairs, but for anyone who’s differently abled, to see this.”
In keeping with Chu, “Marissa transformed how we present Nessa in so many ways,” starting together with her suggestion to mannequin Nessa’s wheelchair design off the actor’s real-life wheelchair, with a view to categorical the character’s bodily self-sufficiency with ease.
“I needed to move as swiftly and naturally as possible, because if I didn’t feel comfortable, it would probably transfer to the camera,” mentioned Bode, who provided her enter on aspects like making the seat recline barely and inserting her backpack on the again of her chair. “If there was something they didn’t think of, they would just ask me, which I loved. I was more than happy to fill those blanks in.”
Costume designer Paul Tazewell then “added in the Munchkinland sensibility” to the wheelchair by way of detailed Artwork Nouveau carvings and a velvet trim in darkish crimson — a shade built-in into a lot of Nessa’s appears in reference to her late mom’s gown. (Additionally from her mom: Nessa’s silver slippers, with tornado-like swirls across the heels.)
“Marissa is absolutely beautiful, so the priority for me was to make sure the fit always looked as pristine as possible and that everything lay just right when she’s seated,” mentioned Tazewell, who outfitted Nessa in corseted Victorian silhouettes and extremely crafted textures all through the movie. “I wanted her to look almost like a cherished doll, with cream or white bases to underscore her innocence.”
That’s most evident throughout the tune “Dancing Through Life,” when Nessa arrives on the Ozdust Ballroom in a knitted, red-trimmed gown alongside her lovable Munchkin classmate, Boq (Ethan Slater). At first, the 2 stay wallflowers.
“When he tells her she’s so beautiful, I wanted her to look like the biggest movie star of all time,” mentioned cinematographer Alice Brooks. “Suddenly, instead of being an awkward teenager, she just looks incredibly, magnificently gorgeous.”
Nessa and Boq then be part of palms for a short however jubilant dance break that finally ends up being one of many film’s most romantic scenes. “Jon made it very clear early on: this moment is about her feeling like she’s flying,” mentioned choreographer Christopher Scott. “This is the happiest moment of her life, and she needs to feel all the things that she carries with her throughout her life, that we all do, just disappear.”
Scott collaborated with wheelchair choreographer and dancer Hannah Raynor to create the sequence, which sees Boq swinging Nessa across the ground and dancing on his knees whereas trying her within the eye. “We treated it like any other duet, and duets are always about connection, either face-to-face or touch or feeling each other’s energy,” mentioned Scott.
Bode and Slater then discovered the strikes over just a few weeks of rehearsal, making adjustments as wanted. “Hannah taught me that every wheelchair user’s range of motion is different, so we would just go move by move and feel it out, like we do with any dancer.”
For Bode, the dance sequence is each a pivotal character growth second for Nessa and a celebration of disabled performers usually.
“Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t grow up with education about disabled people and what they’re capable of,” she mentioned. “It’s great to show that we’re out here and not only can we act and sing, but we can also dance and move and train. Of course, all disabilities are different, so I can’t speak for every disability, but a lot of disabled people can still do a lot.”
Nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient for the fictional world of “Wicked” to be wheelchair-accessible, as devised by manufacturing designer Nathan Crowley. The movie’s entry coordinator Chantelle Nassari additionally outfitted Bode with a completely accessible trailer, double-checked the day’s pathways and ensured the actor had what she wanted to have the ability to carry out. Admittedly, there was a studying curve for Chu and others within the manufacturing.
“I asked Marissa, you need to give us a little grace, because we learned off a system that doesn’t accommodate [disability] and, in trying to figure it out, we may make mistakes along the way,” mentioned the director. “However we saved an open dialog. I discovered quite a bit from her, like once they’re doing microphones, folks would come as much as her and seize her chair. It’s like, ‘That’s my physique. Ask me if you wish to contact my chair.’ “
Bode, who’s biracial and queer, hopes to observe her function movie debut with coming-of-age tales, horror tasks and “more gay stuff,” she mentioned with fun. “And I would love to work with more disabled creatives in the future.”
Chu shared the latter sentiment, and provided recommendation for different productions searching for to do the identical. “You’re going to spend more money and time on casting and dig harder around the world to find the right people, because not everybody’s represented, and they don’t know these roles exist and yet are so talented,” he mentioned.
“On set, you have to think about things that you don’t usually think about, ask questions and design accordingly. And you’re probably going to make mistakes, because there are things you just don’t know yet. It just takes you making it a priority to make it happen.”