Wicked's Jeff Goldblum had 'spiritual experience' working with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo

Leading a film the size of Wicked can be a daunting task, but Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande did so in a way that made them "noble beings", Jeff Goldblum tells Yahoo UK.

The Wizard of Oz prequel tells the origin story of Elphaba (Erivo) the future Wicked Witch of the West, her friendship with fellow witch Galinda (Grande) at Shiz University, and her finding her empowerment through her otherness. It is a huge spectacle of a movie, with gorgeous practical sets and elaborate musical numbers, all of which puts pressure on the shoulders of the two leads.

Goldblum, who plays The Wizard, talks with his co-star Jonathan Bailey about the pair, saying they gave "virtuoso performances" in the film: "[They were] noble beings, there was something around them, an aura of nobility and graciousness and elegance that they were providing, given their own natural gifts.

"But the love that they had for this show and the care they took with us, it was a spiritual experience, a religious experience."

Bailey, who plays romantic lead Fiyero Tigelaar, added that he and the rest of the cast were "very lucky to have witnessed" Erivo and Grande's work on set.

The Bridgerton star says: "There's such a level of professionalism for both of them, they were working so hard and the care and the passion that they put into it sort of set the bar. But they were so generous, and also obviously working opposite their talent they both could lock in and make us feel [incredible]."

For Goldblum, Erivo and Grande give "performances for the ages", and he is effusive in his praise of both their work: "They're two of the greats of all time, perfect for these parts and together [with] this music oh my gosh. And [they're] deep, deep, deep [performances].

"Ariana's comic timing is brilliant, it's so funny, so funny but deep when she first arrives [in the film], knowing what we know —knowing what we know about what she's just come from and still is in shock, and the decision that she [has] made— and having to answer these questions and burning the witch. It's deep acting, it requires deep acting.

"She does it perfectly and you can't get more glorious, out of this world musicianship and vocal production, but what she's acting is so rich and deep, and nuanced and delicious, and painful and exciting, and powerful."

Wicked director Jon M. Chu couldn't agree more, saying that the role of Galinda "could be looked at as a simple comedic role" for Grande but is anything but: "She lived this role. It was both inspired by the ideas that Kristen [Chenoweth, who played the character on Broadway] made and the others built, but not that at all, she was Galinda in real life.

"Her instincts are so good, but it's the nuance of that. It's that Galinda is actually smart and she actually really does care about people, even though she comes across as materialistic she actually does care about people and it is exhausting to be popular. And when she's looking for something deeper those have to come in very fine lines, because Galinda no matter what has to be effervescent throughout, at least in this movie.

"So that is a a balancing act that that takes a very skilled actor to do and she hasn't led a movie before so that was very impressive to watch her do."

Celebrating Erivo's performance, Chu went on: "Oh my gosh, what a revelation. The fact that she could fill out Elphaba, which is a larger than life character anyway, but imbue it with such raw wounds and things that felt so contemporary. It is the character, it is the words, but it felt like somebody today that was going through the same things of feeling othered.

"In a weird way it put our audience into it, she allowed our audience to enter Oz through her vehicle and it allows us to fly with her too. And so that's a very powerful, difficult thing to do, so you have to have those two to be in this, otherwise you don't even make the movie."

Bailey, much like Erivo and Grande, had a lot on his plate to play Fiyero because he was working on Wicked at the same time as he filmed Paramount+ series Fellow Travellers and the third season of Bridgerton. The actor admits doing three projects at once at an impact: "It was kind of nerve-wracking in the run up to it and there was so much work.

"I was filming in Toronto and I felt very sort of far away knowing that the rehearsals had started, I think by the time I got there they'd already shot Popular and What is this Feeling? And I came in January and it was sort of like I was stepping through the looking glass, or a portal, in to Oz, and when I was actually finally there everything was just pure joy.

"You take a big leap and throw your heart, mind and soul into it. It was just amazing, there's so many extraordinary people involved, including the choreographer and singing coach, and Jon M Chu, the director. So you're sort of set up to succeed, and it's all because of Jon M Chu basically, we love him."

Chu, for his part, credits much of the success of the production on the creative team who worked with him, saying: "Having hundreds and hundreds of hands, from the craftsmen and women who built this thing — what an honour, that's what you dream about when you make a movie at the scale of Ben Hur and Cleopatra.

"They're building miniatures and they're hand painting things on the wall. To us, it was really important because if we're building a story that has about a relationship that is as small as a relationship but feels so big —the reality of the rawness of that, the nuance of it— then it means that the world has to feel truthful, and in order for a world to feel truthful and not just a costume it has to feel like it has history, it has to have layers, it has to be lived in.

"Which means it can't just be a painting or map painting, it can't just be a digital world. So we wanted the dirt to be there, we wanted the Sun to light things so it felt like you could feel those flares, you can feel it. So there wasn't this perfect portrait, that's what we were saying about stories and life, it's not a perfect portrait.

"So it all sort of went with our theme and gave a canvas for our actors to find real things to care about, why they care about Shiz, was Shiz was built there way before? Why do they care about Ozians and all these things sort of played together."

Wicked premieres in UK cinemas on Friday, 22 November.