Hardcore Wicked fans have a lot of unshakable opinions, including the widespread belief that the Wizard’s big moment in the first act, the talky “A Sentimental Man,” is the Broadway show’s single worst song. But when Jeff Goldblum stepped in as the Wizard for director Jon M. Chu’s blockbuster film version, he managed to salvage the song in fans’ eyes, playing up the character’s toxic blend of smarm and charisma. “I’ve had a lot of positive anecdotal response like that,” Goldblum says in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. “I think we did OK!” (To hear the whole episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or press play below.)
Goldblum’s casting felt almost inevitable — he even played a not-dissimilar part, the Grandmaster, in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok — and he’s loved the character of the Wizard for years. “I’ve always had a very big feeling about the [1939] movie with Frank Morgan, and then when I saw it on stage, I loved it,” Goldblum says, shouting out Joel Grey, who originated the part in Wicked on Broadway, and his successor Ben Platt. “I think I’m kind of right, in some ways, to do a version. But I took it seriously. It’s a potentially complicated character, knowing where he’s coming from and what he’s thinking and feeling, and what his ideas are in his relationship with Madam Morrible, the great Michelle Yeoh.”
Goldblum has a new album, Still Blooming, out with his band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, and that group’s arranger, bandleader, and bass player, Alex Frank, coached him extensively on his vocal performance for Wicked. “He worked with me on that very seriously,” Goldblum recalls. “He came over to London, and he was there every day.”
In November’s Wicked: For Good, he’ll take on another song, “Wonderful,” which, in the stage version, includes a duet moment with Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo in the film). Goldblum suggests that track has been tweaked for the film. “There’s more to come,” he says. “I shouldn’t spoil anything, but I hope it’s in the second movie and it’s been altered a little bit. And I have high hopes for that. Jon Chu had great ideas, and Chris Scott, the choreographer — there’s a lot of moving around in that, as there was in ‘Sentimental Man.’”
Goldblum remains in awe of his co-stars Erivo and Ariana Grande, both of whom sing on his new album. “Ariana, oh my gosh,” he says. “What she did in Wicked was so amazing. She acts as well as anybody could act. She’s a comedy genius. For both of them to act like that and sing like that… Geez. I don’t know. That’s incomparable.”
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out eight years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Kirk Hammett, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.
