00:00In the movie, Glinda sings about how to be popular.
00:05What does it mean to you to be popular?
00:10What does it mean to me to be popular?
00:12I don't know, it's quite an interesting thing.
00:16It's kind of like, what do you do with it?
00:19And I think with Glinda, she's learning in real time
00:22what she wants to do with it, too.
00:25I think what she wants becomes a lot clearer throughout the two films.
00:33I think she starts as someone who wants to be liked,
00:36who wants to be powerful, and just, you know,
00:40she's discovering what that means.
00:42And I think through meeting Ella, it changes abruptly.
00:46And she does become someone who deeply wants to do good with that power.
00:51And I think we'll see how that continues to evolve over the next film, of course.
00:56But I think for me, it's about what I do with it, really.
00:59Just kind of hoping that your work will make people feel good
01:04and that you'll be able to kind of inspire goodness,
01:09not to sound like Glinda.
01:10But yeah, I guess it's what you do with it to me.
01:15Do you think that with social media, popularity has become an obsession?
01:22I do. I do.
01:24I think it's kind of a slippery slope, social media.
01:29It's hard to keep people safe sometimes.
01:34It depends where you look.
01:35But I really like it as a tool to be able to connect with my fans.
01:42So I kind of live on both sides of the street with that one.
01:46I'm aware of the dangers, but I'm also kind of grateful for it
01:50because it is a tool to connect with others
01:52and to share what you think is important or silly and make people laugh.
01:58But yeah, I do think it's a slippery slope.
02:01Absolutely.
02:02I think that I love, it's crazy how prophetic this musical has been
02:08because even just talking about not just the politics of it,
02:11about breaking the story that was told to us,
02:13but also popularity, being an influencer, how tempting that can be
02:19and how actually every kid in the world now has the power in their hands
02:23to become the most popular kid in the world.
02:26And what kind of incentives does that give us as we grow up,
02:29as we're developing our priorities in the world that,
02:33oh, people liking you, people approving you,
02:36is something that is so important to everybody.
02:39And I feel like a story like this, especially with Glinda,
02:43that at some point, yes, that is a powerful, that's her magic,
02:46even though she doesn't have magic back, that is a very powerful magic,
02:49that there's a responsibility with that magic as well,
02:51that it's not just fun and games,
02:53that the empathy that we have instinctually in us
02:57needs to play out in this sort of artificial idea of acceptance
03:01and seeing each other that we actually have to start,
03:04whether it's putting the phones down or using storytelling
03:08and cameras and music to bring us together.
03:12It's what all the greats have done in the past.
03:14And now I think if we can realize that that's the power we have in hand,
03:19I think we'll have a better future.
03:21Wicked invites us to fight who we are.
03:25When did you first defy gravity?
03:29Oh my goodness.
03:32I think I see little glimmers of defying gravity
03:40in little pieces of art that I'm able to create along the way.
03:43I think with music and with making Wicked,
03:47certain moments have felt like such levity in my life.
03:51And I think art, art makes me feel a little bit of that float.
04:00Oh my, that's a question.
04:04The first time, I don't know, that was hard.
04:07I remember the first time that I,
04:13we were doing a haunted house in our sixth grade
04:16and the sixth graders usually design that
04:18and we all get together and the parents came in and said,
04:21okay, sixth graders, you're doing it for all the other grades.
04:23What is it?
04:24And nobody raised their hands.
04:26But I had secretly written down what I loved about a haunted house,
04:29what I would love to see.
04:30And I made a whole map and everything.
04:31And so I raised my hand and I went up on the board
04:34and I drew what I thought it could be.
04:36And everybody was so excited about that.
04:39And a couple weeks later, we built it.
04:41And that was the first time that I realized
04:43like people want leadership.
04:45People are looking for people with vision.
04:47People are looking for people with big dreams.
04:49And that's an important part of growing up.
04:51I was very lucky to be at such a young age
04:53to feel the empowerment that that can give you.
04:56And I hope that for everybody else
04:57because everyone has that ability and power to do.
05:00Maybe we're just scared about what people will think.
05:02But I think that was the starting point of my storytelling
05:07and seeing that.
05:08Some movies have a saving power.
05:11Why do we need Wicked right now?
05:15I think we need Wicked for the questions that it asks,
05:21which I hope that when people leave this film,
05:24they go home and they kind of can look in the mirror
05:26and have that reflective moment.
05:29And how can I be a better friend?
05:31How can I become more good?
05:35How can I become more empathetic?
05:37How can I put myself in Elphaba's shoes?
05:40How can I be a better ally, a better friend, a better sister?
05:44I think we need it because of the themes of female friendship
05:48and platonic love and how important that is
05:51as a means of survival when the world is
05:53in such a polarized place.
05:55And I think that's how we survive
06:00and have always survived these dark times.
06:04When Wicked came out 21 years ago,
06:06it felt incredibly timely.
06:08When The Wizard of Oz came out, it felt incredibly timely.
06:11And I think it's because that's how we survive devastation,
06:19is with love and friendship.
06:21And I think that's why it's important.
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