‘Wicked: For Good’ Director Says He DM’d a Major Actor to Voice the Lion: ‘Man, Wait Until the Red Carpet’

Jon M. Chu showed a lot of courage when reaching out to the person who voices the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good, with the director revealing that he simply slid into the famous actor’s DMs.

In an interview with Deadline published Thursday (Oct. 16), Chu teased that fans can expect a very familiar voice when Lion first speaks in the November-slated sequel to 2024’s Wicked. According to the filmmaker, he had a particular performer in mind — so he sent him a message on Instagram.

“I was like, ‘It’s not a ton of lines, but maybe you have a little time,’” Chu told the publication. “‘I know you’re busy. I’ll come to you.’ He was like, ‘Why the f–k not? Let’s go!’ And then we went ahead and recorded the lines.”

While playing coy about whose voice will be featured, Chu added, “Man, wait until the red carpet when the actor who gave us the Cowardly Lion’s voice steps foot on it. It’ll be wild.”

Released in November 2024, the first Wicked film was a major box-office success. It quickly became the highest grossing adaptation of a Broadway musical in history, and its soundtrack scored a historic debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

The epic saga will conclude on Nov. 21, when Part 2 arrives in theaters. The second film will feature two new tracks, with leading ladies Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo each singing one of them.

Of Grande’s, which is titled “Girl in the Bubble,” Chu told Deadline, “This movie had to be about the courage of someone popping their own bubble, a bubble of privilege or their bubble of safety. … How are the decisions each of them made affecting the other in their journey?”