The 42-year-old actress, who played Elphaba in the musical's original Broadway run, claims to have been told she wasn't young enough to play the part again in a movie
It’s time for Idina “Adele Dazeem” Menzel to let it go when it comes to her dream of starring in a Wicked movie.
During an appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live talk show on Bravo, the actress, who played Elphaba in the original Broadway run of Wicked, said she and co-star Kristin Chenoweth, who played Galinda, were told they were too old to reprise their roles.
“I would die to be in [the movie], except I’m afraid Kristin and I… they told us we’re a little over the age for that,” Menzel said. The actress has found wider fame since appearing in Wicked as the voice of Queen Elsa in the Disney movie Frozen, in which she sang the Oscar-winning song Let it Go.
The characters of Elphaba and Galinda are college students at Shiz University when they first meet. Menzel is only 42, but that’s still a fair amount older than your average university co-ed.
Last year, Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson told The Hollywood Reporter that an adaptation of the acclaimed musical was in the works, though it had not yet been green-lit. “I believe that we are collectively moving toward Wicked coming to the screen sooner rather than later,” he said.