Why Bowen Yang was ‘terrified' to watch ‘Wicked' with his ‘Saturday Night Live' co-stars

Bowen Yang wasn’t sure when he was going to watch the final cut of “Wicked.” 

“Everyone has their weird hang-ups about watching something that they’re in,” he tells TODAY.com. 

Yang, who’s worked on “Saturday Night Live” since 2018, says he was “really hesitant” to see the film. In “Wicked,” Yang plays Pfannee (pronounced “fanny”), a student at Shiz University and one of Glinda’s (Ariana Grande) friends — or, as Yang puts it, Glinda’s “publicists.”

On Oct. 12, Grande hosted “SNL.” That week, Universal Pictures hosted a “Wicked” screening for the cast of the sketch comedy show, Yang says. (TODAY.com and Universal Pictures share Comcast as a parent company.)

“I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m going to go. I don’t want to see it around my friends and my co-workers,’” Yang says.

“I was so nervous. I was terrified, because it was a long, really tough time, just to juggle both at the same time,” he adds.

Then, he thought of his first time visiting New York City.

“I begged my parents to go to the Gerswhin (Theatre, home of “Wicked”). We couldn’t afford tickets, but I was like, ‘Can I at least go so I can press my face up against the glass?’” he says. “The same day, we went two avenues over to Rockefeller Center to go do the NBC Studios tour. We picked the TODAY show, we went to Conan, and then we went to ‘SNL.’”

Now, seeing “Wicked” as a member of the “Saturday Night Live” cast felt “full circle,” he says.

“It’s the perfect way to close that loop, like I have to see it with ‘SNL’ people,” he says. “It was the perfect way to do it. I’m so glad I did it that way.”

As for any notable reactions from his castmates?

“Sarah Sherman was there, and she sobbed the entire movie. Just to watch her cry with joy and being emotional about things is my favorite thing. She’s the emotional, validating force in my life,” he says.

In an interview with TODAY.com, Yang shares his thoughts on the “Wicked” set, discusses all those Glicked (“Gladiator II” and “Wicked”) memes and, in true “Las Culturistas” fashion, his rules for Ozian culture. 

This interview has been edited for clarity.

A lot of the ‘Wicked’ set was practical effects (physically constructed). What was the most shocking set piece for you?

Most surprising, shocking set moment was, I think just walking into Shiz (University) the first day. Like every single person was awestruck. Even the people who were on the crew who had worked on like every Marvel movie, all the “Harry Potter” movies and like, every other big blockbuster, was like, ‘We’ve never seen anything like that.’ So it just blew everyone’s expectations out of the water. 

But then the most shocking single moment was — there's a giant sculpted face of Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard that I'm sure you know what I'm talking about in the movie. And Ari (Ariana Grande) and I were just walking around set one day, just like having a little walk about, and then we just popped up on it, and it really gave us a jump scare. But it’s just because he’s so striking and handsome, of course.

Well you see it (in the movie), and you’re like, ‘That’s Jeff Goldblum.’

That's Jeff Goldblum. I think it's the first time you ever see him in the movie. It's really amazing. It's quite — it leaves an impression.

So in between takes, you all had free rein of the set?

Yeah, it felt like a Sleep No More immersive theater experience. You just walked around and like, it felt so intimate. It felt we were at school, just in the quad, just walking around.

Did it make you feel closer to your character?

Definitely. All of us were like, within these social dynamics of being at school. It felt very freshmen orientation-y because it was like, we're in a classroom together. Seating arrangement was very intentional. I think it accelerated familiarity with everybody.

Who was the first person you met on set?

First person I met when I got to rehearsals was Ari. Yeah, it was really special. It was Ari, and then it was Bronwyn James, who plays Shenshen, my other half, my other extension. 

Was there a moment with you all when you realized, ‘Oh we’re not just coworkers. We are friends’?

We would have wine nights after shoots, especially when we were shooting remotely out in the countryside. The Shiz campus was like, all the way outside of London. And so they put us up in this place where we would just like, have a little night cap. And it was just a really tasteful adult thing. And then we would all go to bed and show up to work the next morning. It just felt like an adult summer camp.

What is your ‘Wicked’ story? Are you a fan of the musical?

I’ve been obsessed with it. Cynthia (Erivo) and I have the same thing where we didn’t see it until much later in our lives, but we knew the songs and the story, obviously... If you were in a drama club in the aughts, it was just the thing, like you lived and breathed it. 

I just remember going to the library and renting out the original Broadway cast recording and flipping through the booklet — remember those? And just seeing pictures of Idina (Menzel, the original Elphaba) and Kristin (Chenoweth, the original Glinda). I was like, something has changed within me. I was like, this is the best, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. 

Tell me a little bit about your character Pfannee. What is Pfannee looking for at Shiz University?

Pfannee's vibe. There's a moment where Pfannee and Shenshen run up to Galinda when she gets off the boat at Shiz that you might see in an extended version of the film. But they are just there to rekindle this friendship with Galinda that they've had since they were kids. 

That's background, that's not totally necessary, but I think, what's really interesting about them as characters is that they see and they operate on status. They see Galinda, and they're like, she's someone that we can, like, glom onto. 

We talked about them early on and Jon (M. Chu) was like, "I don't think these are the lackeys, or like the snickering best friends. I think there's something more to them." And we were like, "Yeah, what is it?" I think what we landed on was that they are kind of Galinda's publicists.

Ari was very protective of Galinda not being the one to enact the bullying, she’s good. And so it falls on these two characters to be the nefarious ones. We’re the ones who give her the hat and are like, ‘You know who should wear this? Elphaba.’”

You're just protecting your client.

We're just protecting our client! Exactly.

Do you have a favorite meme about ‘Wicked’?

I think the star of the internet discourse of “Wicked” is that little flying squirrel that plays the drums at the Ozdust. That little diva.

Was he on set?

He was on set, and he was a real charmer. I think everybody had a moment with him in private, and it was very steamy — No! We didn't have any (animals).

There’s also Glicked (the phenomenon of ‘Gladiator II’ and ‘Wicked’ sharing a release date). Is that the best possible name we can come up with here?

Barbenheimer (“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”) is such a perfect portmanteau. Glicked... I don’t know.

Glad — Gladwick. I like Gladwick.

Gladwick's fun.

Gladwick's cute. It sounds like a candle you buy a target. Gladwick.

Are you all leaning into Glicked?

Oh yeah, we're so excited. This is the perfect time of year to do a double feature. You've totally got nothing but time, hopefully. 

Which order should people watch them in?

I think “Gladiator II” is going to be slightly more intense, maybe more of an emotional drain, perhaps. It’s going to be very, I think, quite violent. 

And I think our movie is a cute salve to put over that wound. Yeah, maybe watch “Wicked” after “Gladiator.”

In ‘Las Culturistas’ style, do you have any rules of Ozian culture?

The rules of Ozian culture are: The train to the Emerald City is too small. That's rule of culture No. 7. 

Rule of Ozian culture No. 61 is animals know how to party better than humans do. That's why they're at the Ozdust. 

And rule of Ozian culture No. 4 is Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) is unfortunately a style icon, even though she's a villain.

Part 2. For your character and for the citizens of Oz, what's ahead for them? 

Look, everyone’s like, ‘This is the longest intermission ever.’ It needs to be that because a lot of time passes between the acts.

A lot happens right when we pick up. Galinda is in this very front-facing position. Pfannee and Shenshen are at her side still, but a lot is in motion. The world has literally changed, and the landscape of it is very different. There is this campaign against this one person that they're like, the reason for all the problems in the world. 

The story is so flexible how it relates to our real world, but I think, it's going to be interesting to see it — 

(Editor’s note: Paul Mescal, star of “Gladiator II,” stopped to say hello to Yang in the TODAY green room.)

And a lot has shifted in the topography of things. But yeah it needs that, because if you go straight from “Defying Gravity” to what happens in Act 2, it just feels like too much of a lurch.

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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• Cynthia Erivo reveals the ‘Wicked’ scene that was ‘sometimes painful, sometimes joyous’ to film