At the 'Wicked' Los Angeles premiere, Ethan Slater chats with THR and reflects on his casting audition. Plus, he explains the similarities between working on Broadway and working on 'Wicked.' Slater also mentions feeling "privileged" to have experienced Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's powerful on-screen chemistry.
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00:00Congratulations on this.
00:01Thank you so much.
00:02What did you think when you heard this was happening and that you'd gotten the role and all that?
00:07Well, I got the role way after I heard it was happening.
00:09I remember, I mean, it's been in the air for a long time.
00:13And then I remember I was at coffee with my sister and she went inside to grab something
00:18and I pulled out my phone and saw that Ariana and Cynthia had been cast.
00:22And my first thought was, oh, this movie's going to be really good.
00:25That's so smart. They're incredible.
00:27I never thought of that.
00:29And then a year and a half later, I get an audition.
00:31And everyone in the world, I was going to say everyone in New York who's 5'7 or under
00:37is going to be auditioning for Bach.
00:39So I was like, there's no chance this goes anywhere.
00:41But I really want to give it my all.
00:43And I made a self-tape.
00:45And I read with myself.
00:46I read all of Glinda's parts.
00:47And I sang Nessa's parts.
00:49And I acted with a video of myself.
00:51Which is, as I say, the most narcissistic thing I can imagine.
00:55But I sent it in and I was immediately humiliated.
00:58But it worked and I got a callback.
01:00And the rest is, now we're here.
01:04How much did your kind of Broadway experience help with this?
01:07Or is this kind of a very different kind of thing when it's a movie?
01:10I think they're really similar.
01:11They're more similar than different.
01:12Just like Elphaba and Glinda.
01:14There's more that unites them than divides them.
01:17Thank you so much.
01:18And I think that I was really helped by my experience on Broadway
01:24because we were singing live and we were doing this.
01:27It's not like a long arc of the show.
01:29It's not the same kind of stamina per night.
01:32But to really have to find the way that your character expresses themselves through song.
01:39And not let it be a break.
01:41Not be acting and then singing.
01:42But rather connect those things.
01:44That was something that I've worked on a lot on Broadway.
01:47And then being able to apply it to something where the camera doesn't hear what you say.
01:50It hears what you think.
01:52So you can kind of just be there with your scene partner.
01:55I think it was helpful and it's also totally different.
01:59And what was it like seeing Ariana and Cynthia transform into these iconic roles?
02:03It was...
02:06It's kind of indescribable.
02:08They are such a powerhouse.
02:09The two of them have a crazy chemistry.
02:14On screen and off.
02:15They're like really close and they've got each other's backs.
02:18And it's a really beautiful thing to see.
02:20But then to see them play these iconic characters
02:22and bring a humanness and a depth and a nuance that can only be captured on film.
02:27And they have it in spades.
02:29It was just a really beautiful thing to see.
02:30I feel privileged to have been there.
02:33And I heard they kept their gowns.
02:35They kept their wands.
02:36Did you take anything from set?
02:38I tried to sneak a couple of things away.
02:40But I feel like I shouldn't share what I did.
02:42I'm going to keep that.
02:43Those are going to go with me to my grave.
02:45They've still got another year or two.
02:47I know.
02:47They're going to go with me until after movie two.
02:49Congratulations.
02:51Thank you so much.