Wicked fans have been desperately waiting to learn who might be set to play Dorothy Gale in Wicked: For Good, and finally, the actor taking on the role has been revealed.
While Dorothy may be the main character in The Wizard of Oz, she very much takes the backseat in Wicked as a character who only makes a brief appearance in the second act.
Nonetheless, her role is pivotal and has been highly anticipated since the release of the first half of the film adaptation, Wicked, in 2024.
The Sun has now shared the identity of the actor playing Dorothy, revealing that the role will be played by Surrey-born 30-year-old Bethany Weaver.
Weaver trained at The Urdang Academy in London and has appeared in a number of theatre productions, including in the ensemble of Rumi the Musical and Broken Wings the Musical in 2018.
She also choreographed the West End musical play Asmahan at the Peacock Theatre, and is also a pilates instructor.
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Weaver apparently appears on screen for just 69 seconds and says a total of just six words, and her face never actually appears on screen.
She was also previously associated with the film in an uncredited role, and hasn’t appeared at premieres or red carpets to promote the film.
Explaining why he decided to put the character on screen as little as possible, director Jon M Chu told People: ‘I didn’t want to step on who you think Dorothy is in whatever story that you came into this with.
‘[The sequel] is still Elphaba and Glinda’s journey, and she is a pawn in the middle of all of it.’
Cynthia Erivo, who stars as Elphaba in the story, added that barely showing Dorohy allows fans to maintain their image of Dorothy that has existed for generations.
‘I think that’s such a wonderful thing to do because then everyone gets to keep the Dorothy they know,’ she told Empire.
Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda the good witch in the film, also spoke about her character’s interactions with Dorothy, revealing it gave her the opportunity to be a little ‘shady’.
‘I love the little bit of shadiness that Glinda has towards Dorothy,’ she said.
‘There’s a lot going on, and she doesn’t really have time to deal with this. She could have told her to take the Emerald City train! But she didn’t. That’s a little shady, Glinda! So I leaned all the way into Glinda sort of having an eye roll for Dorothy whenever she has to deal with her.’
The sequel film has been getting generally positive reviews, earning a 73% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
In a review for Metro, Tori Brazier commented: ‘While Wicked: For Good has its work cut out to match the triumph of part one, what is never in question are the performances of its exquisite leading ladies.’
She added: ‘Erivo and Grande are, somehow, even better in this second movie, despite having left no room for improvement last time.’
However, she added that it wasn’t entirely perfect: ‘Jonathan Bailey is a tiny bit wasted as Fiyero in For Good, with his singing only heard in As Long As You’re Mine, his duet with Elphaba, which happens to be the film’s cheesiest and most unabashedly musical theatre moment – it’s the only time I felt the film was slightly awkward.’
Wicked: For Good is in cinemas from Friday, November 21.
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