Wicked has such a talented cast ready to bring the Tony-winning musical to the big screen for the first time. Not only do you have Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, and more embodying the magical characters, but Marissa Bode is part of the cast as Elphaba’s sister Nessarose. With Bode being a paraplegic in real life, Wicked director Jon M. Chu spoke about making the set of his 2024 movie release wheelchair accessible for the Nessarose actress.
According to WMTV 15 News, Marissa Bode has been paralyzed from the waist down due to a car crash when she was 11. While continuing on with acting, it was a challenge for Bode to perform on her high school stage with no ramp and having to wait to be put on a lift to get up there. In the case of her new Wicked role as paraplegic witch Nessarose, Jon M. Chu told EW that he designed “a fantastical world with a wheelchair user in mind" and what that process was like:
One of the most enlightening and beautiful processes I've ever gone through. You need accessibility, not just when we're on set behind the scenes, but you need to present accessibility in Oz itself.
That’s absolutely true considering the character of Nessarose is an Oz resident. It would make sense for the Oz set to be built for a wheelchair to be able to move around through. It was truly thoughtful for Jon M. Chu to keep Marissa Bode in mind when putting together the Land of Oz set.
From the get-go, Wicked sought out real wheelchair users to play the role of Nessarose within the 18-30 age group of any ethnicity. It was a good call on the musical film to do so considering a new study found disabilities in movies to be underrepresented. Sure, there was success in Hulu’s thriller Run when wheelchair-bound actress Kiera Allen was cast. But, there’s always room for improvement and it looks like Wicked is making big strides in casting an actress with the same physical challenges as her magical character. On Broadway, Nessa is typically not a disabled actress, so this is a major step forward regarding representation.
Marissa Bode’s story of landing the role of Nessarose was a magical dream come true for her. According to Variety, the aspiring star was worried she didn’t get the part after her self-tape and series of callbacks got no response. Two days later during her Zoom call with Jon M. Chu, a delightful interruption occurred when Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo walked through their director’s door with a sign to the camera that said, “Welcome to Oz! Will you be our Nessa?” The honored actress would then make history as the first wheelchair actress to play the role.
With Jon M. Chu making Oz a wheelchair-accessible place for Marissa Bode, you can tell that the Wicked actress was having the time of her life in a teaser that showed her “defying gravity” up in the air while in her wheelchair. Bode told Variety she hoped her next roles going forward are of characters whose disabilities don't define them and hopes to inspire people to speak out more about accessibility and ableism. Make sure to add Wicked: Part One’s new release date to your watchlist coming to theaters on November 22nd.
