Wicked’s Director Reveals A “Messy” Filming Error In The Sequel

Wicked: For Good has plenty of standout performances, but Cynthia Erivo’s rendition of “No Good Deed” might be one of the best. It’s one of the most emotional songs in the original Broadway musical, and capturing its full depth for the movie was important for the film’s director, Jon M. Chu — in fact, this goal actually led to Chu keeping a “messy” filming error in the final cut of the film.

Originally, Chu mapped out the scene so that Erivo would unrig from a harness in the middle of the song. "She did those versions of it, but one time she was like, 'I don't want to unrig and do the whole thing, it's throwing me. Let me just do it here,'" Chu told Entertainment Weekly in a Nov. 26 interview. “And she does it, and she's just in it, and that's the take we use. That's why it's messy — because our camera [operator] didn't know it was happening. I forgot to tell them.”

Some careful editing was needed to make the take work, but they managed. "I think it's one of the greatest single performances of a musical sequence in a movie of all time," Chu said about Erivo’s performance. "I just think she is a revelation."

"We already knew what she can do, she did it in 'Defying Gravity.' But 'No Good Deed' is not just a declaration, it is a struggle to find herself," he continued. "It is Elphaba surrendering to herself — and there's pain and anguish in that surrender. It's questioning her past."

As Elphaba sings, reflecting on her past, the setting is transformed to her start at Shiz University. “When you go back and see Shiz again, it brings you back to her whole journey," Chu said. "When you see Marissa [Bode] that way again, ‘Oh my God, Nessarose was so innocent.’ And there was this moment where [Jonathan Bailey's Fiyero] looked back, and Elphaba looking at him, and then that creates this, ‘Did I miss my opportunity? How did this all go to sh*t?’”

According to Chu, all the details — including the “messy” mistake — were about conveying one message. “Every inch of it was about where Cynthia was taking us in this emotion,” he said. “I mean, she's in a room alone, singing that while we're shooting this. There is nothing around her; she is making the whole f*cking scene. It's pretty awesome.”