Jeff Goldblum is spending one short day in the Emerald City! The 70-year-old actor was a guest on Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” where he spoke out for the first time about his widely rumoured role in the upcoming “Wicked” film adaptation.
“I was just on the set of ‘Wicked’. I’m not supposed to talk about that. But it’s been out and about,” Goldblum said, noting that his children, Charlie, 7, and River, 5, joined him in London on the set.
Goldblum was widely reported to be joining the cast of the highly anticipated film adaptation of the Broadway hit musical in the role of the Wizard, but the “Jurassic Park” star has not publicly confirmed the news until his late-night appearance.
The two-part film adaptation — which has already announced Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero — began production in December 2022.
On “Kimmel”, Goldblum talked about his kids’ thoughts on his fantastical profession, noting that they have joined him on several sets and even saw “Jurassic World: Dominion” as their first movie in theatres. In preparation for his “Wicked” role, Goldblum shared a classic film with his kids.
“We showed them ‘The Wizard of Oz’, one of my favourite movies. It was too scary for them,” Goldblum said of his young children.
Though Goldblum kept mostly quiet about the “Wicked” role, he did tease, “You should see our witches — Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — very good.”
Goldblum noted that he had a childhood fear of witches due to a nightmare he had as a kid, which resurfaced during filming.
“I’ll tell ya. I shouldn’t talk about it, but I was shooting one day and I found myself tearing up in fear, a childhood fear came back to me,” Goldblum said of the phobia.
“Wicked” director Jon Chu recently announced that the first part of the film will be released on Nov. 27, 2024.
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