Michelle Yeoh Says Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Convinced Her to Star in ‘Wicked’: ‘It’s Imperative You Come Join Us’ | Video

Michelle Yeoh might not have done “Wicked” if it weren’t for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

Speaking with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” Wednesday, the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Oscar winner said that it was the two movie musical’s stars that convinced her to join the anticipated Jon M. Chu project.

“It’s imperative that you come and join us,” Yeoh recalled the two of them telling her on a video call with Chu.

Yeoh began the story by remembering when Chu, whom she worked with on “Crazy Rich Asians,” asked her to read the script.

“I did ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ with him. He is brilliant. He really is truly brilliant. So I’m like, ‘For you? Yeah! Send me the script!’” Yeoh recalled. “I read the script, I call him up. I’m like, ‘Jon, you realize she sings, right?’”

When Fallon joked that he knew her as an actress and action star but didn’t know she could sing, Yeoh deadpanned, “Neither did I!”

Even after explaining to Chu that she doesn’t sing, the filmmaker knew she was qualified. Sensing her hesitation over the musical demands of the project, Chu apparently video called Yeoh the next day with two special guests on the line.

“‘Hi Michelle, I just have two people here who really want to talk to you and tell you why you should be here,’” Chu said, according to Yeoh, who added, “And it was Ariana and Cynthia. They’re like, ‘It’s imperative that you come and join us.’ ‘Imperative’ was the royal word.”

“Cynthia and Ariana are angels,” Yeoh told Fallon of her time on set with the performers, who star as Elpheba and Glinda, respectively. “When you walk on and hear them sing, it’s like you’ve gone to heaven.”

So all it took was a little guidance from two “angels,” as Yeoh puts it, to sign onto the two-part film, which just wrapped filming for Yeoh in London last week, she revealed.

The original stage musical “Wicked” has been a fan-favorite blockbuster production since its first appearance in 2003 and is the fourth longest-running production on Broadway. In addition to Yeoh, who stars as Madame Morrible, Grande and Erivo, the film “Wicked” costars Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Jeff Goldblum and Keatle Settle.

The first part of the movie is scheduled to hit theaters in November, and Part 2 is expected in 2025.

Yeoh’s interview with Fallon additionally had them talking about her new show, “The Brothers Sun,” which debuted on Netflix earlier this month.

Watch the full “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” interview in the video above.

The post Michelle Yeoh Says Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Convinced Her to Star in ‘Wicked’: ‘It’s Imperative You Come Join Us’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.