For Good’ Behind and Leading a Family

Jon M. Chu did not simply direct “Wicked: For Good.” He governed a small nation.

For five years, he lived inside L. Frank Baum’s universe — shaping two films, welcoming three new children, and guiding an army of actors and craftspeople through one of the decade’s most scrutinized adaptations. Yet when Chu speaks now, he avoids talk of scale, spectacle or box office. Instead, he returns to responsibility, trust and the emotional architecture required to shepherd a story as fiercely protected and beloved as “Wicked.”

“When you live with something for five-plus years, and you dream about it and wake up with nightmares right in front of you, it sticks with you,” Chu says during the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast. “I have not processed it yet.”

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Much has already been written about the mechanics — the split structure, the risk of adaptation, the evolution of Oz. But in conversation, Chu emerges as a filmmaker defined less by vision than by stewardship. His sets are built on protection, transparency and the willingness to dismantle anything — even a wall — if a scene asks for it.

His creative circle, from cinematographer Alice Brooks to editor Myron Kerstein to composers John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, operates more like a family than a crew. For Chu, assembling this tribe has been the realization of a childhood dream.

“All of us are underdogs,” he says with pride. “Nobody in the business fully believes in us, and we’re used to that. You’ve always got to prove yourself on the next movie. That mentality doesn’t get us down — it fires us up.”

Their loyalty is anchored in a shared tolerance for risk. Chu insists true collaboration requires the courage to be unsettled.

“It’s about being able to feel uncomfortable in those unknown moments and know that you’re protected on all sides,” he says. “If you don’t know the person, everyone’s trying to protect their own reputation. But this — we live in the uncomfortable. We search for that thing.”

That philosophy became essential as “Wicked: For Good” moved through awards season, earning 10 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, though Chu did not receive a directing nod. He shrugs it off with characteristic warmth.

“When you’re a kid, you imagine making movies with your friends,” he says. “In the real business, people hire individuals — not groups. So when you find a team who loves their job and shares your heart, it’s everything.”

Casting “Wicked,” meanwhile, was an exercise in trust rather than industry math. No conversations about follower counts, marketability or online chatter entered the room.

“At first I thought, let’s keep it open to anybody,” Chu says. “The studio never put pressure on us about names or followers. Not one word.”

What he sought was electricity and the unmistakable charge of destiny.

“When Cynthia walks in and sings, you feel it in your bones,” he declares. “And when Ari sat there and became Glinda, there was no question.”

Chu likens their partnership to discovering a secret too powerful to share before its time. “I knew what everyone is seeing now — I got to see it on day four,” he says.

During the interview, Chu gravitates again and again toward the story’s emotional weight and startling modernity. When he first revisited the musical during the pandemic, he wondered whether a 20-year-old stage work remained relevant. The answer arrived instantly.

“It felt like the most relevant thing I’d ever read,” he says.

For Chu, the story’s resonance is not political but human — a portrait of fractured communities, weaponized narratives and the ease with which society can turn toward villainy.

“The truth is not a thing of fact or reason,” he quotes from the film. “It’s just what we all agree on.”

That line, written decades ago, feels alarmingly current. “Every week it gets more relevant,” he admits. “The pressure is up on a story like this.”

With “Wicked” completed, Chu has turned to his first animated feature, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” slated for 2028. His development slate is full, but he is in no rush to choose his next live-action project.

“I thought I was going to be exhausted after this,” he says. “But no — I feel energized. I feel like we have a lot more to do.”

Before he can begin again, however, he must say goodbye to the world he built.

“I think the office is empty now, which is really sad,” Chu says quietly. “I don’t want it to end.”

Then he smiles, with the filmmaker’s instinct flickering.

“But that’s storytelling, right? You build something, you live in it completely, and then you have to let it go so other people can make it their own.”

The filmmaker who spent half a decade exploring friendship, loyalty and self-discovery seems to have absorbed those lessons deeply. In Chu’s Oz, the real magic was never the spectacle or the effects — it was the trust, vulnerability and chosen family that made it possible.

“That’s through this movie,” Chu says. “We get to link arms and prove to people — and maybe to ourselves — that we could reach this.”

They did.

“Wicked: For Good” is now playing in theaters.

Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.