You could say that Ethan Slater's yellow brick road to getting cast in the big screen adaptation of “Wicked” had an element of magic to it.
On the day he was asked to submit a tape of himself for the role of Boq, Slater was playing the part of actor Christopher Fitzgerald's identical twin in a table read for a potential musical. Fitzgerald originated the role of Boq in “Wicked” on Broadway. “I didn’t tell him about it ‘cause I didn’t want to explain when I didn’t get it,'” admitted Slater. Instead, he marked the occasion by asking Fitzgerald to take a selfie with him for seemingly no reason, which he still has.
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After getting the job, Slater was determined to master the delicate dance of keeping the essence of Fitzgerald in a role that was now his.
“I look up to him so much,” Slater said of Fitzgerald. “I wanted to honor the Boq he created who’s just, like, a burst of energy. But I also wanted to make him my own because I could never be Chris Fitzgerald. He's too singular and too amazing. It would be a fool’s errand to try to be him.”
In turn, Fitzgerald, who has seen the film, gave Slater's performance a glowing review. Slater says he plans to print and frame a text message that Fitzgerald sent him afterward.
“Ethan has this perfect balance of soulfulness and funny bones as an actor,” Fitzgerald said in an email to the AP. “His Boq is earnest, daffy, and generous of heart. It was such a pleasure and a gift to watch a pal use the spirit of something that’s come before and spin it into something new and wholly original. He is Boq.”
“Wicked” is a prequel to the events of “Wizard of Oz.” It stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Jonathan Bailey plays a prince, Fiyero, who encounters Glinda and Elphaba at school.
The story was conceived by Gregory Macguire for a novel called “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Slater says filming the big-budget movie directed by Jon M. Chu ("Crazy Rich Asians" and “In the Heights”) actually felt much smaller. At its heart, the cast is just a bunch of theater kids who love to perform.
“I keep quoting Johnny Bailey who said while we were shooting, ‘it just feels like a student film until suddenly it doesn’t,'" said Slater.
Erivo, Grande, Bailey and Slater all come from a musical theater background. In 2018, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his leading performance in “SpongeBob SquarePants" on Broadway. He was also in the revival of “Spamalot" in 2023.
“We all cared so much. We cared in the way that theater kids care and want to protect this show and want the opportunity to do it. It was really, really joyful and familial," said Slater.
Because the experience was so magical, Slater said the actors find themselves reminiscing even when they're not promoting it.
“Going to dinner last night, we were all still talking about ‘Wicked,’ and it’s like another theater kid thing, you know, hyper-fixating on this thing that we love so much," he said.
The actors sang live on set which Slater said makes for a better performance.
“You are using your voice in the same way from scene into song, into scene. And there’s no break at all. You’re not thinking about syncing. You’re not thinking about dubbing later. You’re just performing it," he said.
“Wicked,” premiering Nov. 22, will be released in two parts. The second film is scheduled for a November 2025 debut.
Slater recognizes that breaking up the film is a “controversial decision.”
"I empathize with that, but when you see this movie, I think it’s a really full movie with a beginning, middle and end. You get to know these characters and love these characters. I think the first thing you’re going to want to do is watch the movie a second time. I’m on pins and needles waiting for the second one."
On screen, Boq has an unrequited crush on Glinda. Off screen, Slater and Grande are a couple in real life.
“Her fans are going to be blown away," he said. "Anybody who’s a fan of Ariana knows how talented she is. They know that she has, you know, one of the best voices, of our generation — or ever — and can do anything with it. I think that her acting is like above and beyond. It’s incredible. Her comedy is ridiculous."
Slater also stars in the film “Lost on a Mountain in Maine," now in theaters. And he's developing “a really beautiful play about humanity” where he would star as French mime Marcel Marceau.
“The thing in theater is you can’t really celebrate it until opening night and then you really shouldn’t until it closes either. But we’re really excited about its future, and hopefully there will be more news about it soon.”