This article contains spoilers from Wicked.
This article contains mention of sexual assault.
The Wizard of Oz, the green skin has been deeply intertwined with the character's legacy. She did not have green skin in the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel written by Frank L. Baum, but since the film's 1939 release, it has been an integral element of the character.
This continued in Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which was later adapted into the popular Broadway musical, Wicked. This version of the character, known as Elphaba, has green skin for compelling narrative and in-universe reasons that go beyond it being a memorable part of the 1939 film. These reasons continue to be relevant in Jon M. Chu's Wicked movies adapting the musical, which star Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
The Wizard's Green Elixir Is Believed To Be What Made Elphaba's Skin Green
"Have Another Drink, My Dark-Eyed Beauty..."
In the Broadway musical, Elphaba's skin is believed to be green because of the green elixir that Elphaba's mother drank. She had an affair with a man, later revealed to be the Wizard of Oz, who gave her the green elixir when Elphaba was conceived. Since the green elixir was in Elphaba's mother's system when she got pregnant, it caused the child's skin to turn green, as teased in the musical's opening song, "No One Mourns the Wicked."
"No One Mourns The Wicked" features the mysterious man telling Elphaba's mother to "have another drink, my dark-eyed beauty" and "have another drink of green elixir" shortly before the musical proceeds to show Elphaba's birth. When Elphaba's mother and the Wizard are briefly seen together, the musical portrays their affair as consensual, whereas the novel portrays it as sexual assault, with the Wizard using the elixir from a green glass bottle to drug her. This makes the green elixir far more sinister in the novel than it is in the musical.
The Importance Of Elphaba's Green Skin In Wicked
It's Not Easy Being Green
Elphaba's green skin makes her an outcast from the moment she is born, with even her own family disgusted by her. Her mother's husband, who she believes to be her father, resents Elphaba and favors her sister, Nessarose, which creates a great deal of tension within the family. When Elphaba goes to Shiz University, her green skin initially makes her a social pariah in the eyes of her roommate, Galinda, and the other students, until an unexpected friendship begins to form between the two of them.
Her unparalleled power, including her ability to read parts of the Grimmerie, is rooted in one of her biological parents being from Oz and the other being from Earth.
As Elphaba's arc progresses, she stops caring about being accepted by others, and embraces what makes her different, including her green skin. When the Wizard manipulates the people of Oz into fearing Elphaba as the Wicked Witch of the West, he uses her green skin as a reason to fear her and view her as unnatural. The irony is that her skin is green because of the green elixir he gave her mother, and her unparalleled power, including her ability to read parts of the Grimmerie, is rooted in one of her biological parents being from Oz and the other being from Earth.
How Wicked Made Cynthia Erivo's Skin Green To Play Elphaba
It's Not CGI
In 2022, before filming for Wicked began, Erivo shared with Entertainment Tonight that Chu "asked me at one point if I wanted to be actually green or CGI green, and I was like, ‘I’d like to actually be green because I’m not sure that the CGI will sit the way you need it to sit.’ I want it to still feel like it’s my skin." Eirvo also emphasized that she is "happy to sit in makeup for hours and hours to go green." Elphaba's green skin is therefore created through makeup instead of being created through CGI.
Elphaba's green skin, its narrative importance, and the makeup process that brings it to life are among the elements that make Wicked an immersive story.
While Wicked has released a great deal of behind-the-scenes content leading up to the first film, a look at Erivo's exact makeup process has not been shared yet. It is likely similar to the process of Elphaba's Broadway makeup process, which, according to Playbill, involves a green Chromacake for the base, along with some modifications that will be needed for a film adaptation. Elphaba's green skin, its narrative importance, and the makeup process that brings it to life are among the elements that make Wicked an immersive story.
Source: Entertainment Tonight, Playbill
Wicked
- Release Date
- November 22, 2024
- Runtime
- 160 Minutes
- Director
- Jon M. Chu
Cast
Cynthia ErivoElphaba Thropp
Glinda Upland
WHERE TO WATCH
Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
- Writers
- Gregory Maguire, Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, L. Frank Baum
- Studio(s)
- Marc Platt Productions
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
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