Everybody's excited about Oz these days!
MGM Studios
With the release of the new Wicked movie only a few days away, the classic story of The Wizard of Oz is on everyone's minds! Thankfully, that means we get to find out some interesting and c*nty historical facts about the original film that we never knew before!
While we all know that in the original The Wizard of Oz film from 1939, the iconic Wicked Witch of the West was played by the iconic Margaret Hamilton in one of the most memorable villain performances of all-time, what many don't know is that another actress was almost cast, and her look for the character was completely different!
Before Hamilton was cast, Oscar-winning actress Gale Sondergaard was lined up to play the role, and even did some costume tests!
However, her version of the Wicked Witch was very different from the one we know and love! In her original design for the movie, the Witch was serving c*nty Evil Queen from Snow White realness, with a black dress, sequined cape, black hood, and sequined witch hat. She also had on beautiful glamor makeup, making her look like a movie star — very different from the green-skinned, pointy-chinned, frightening Witch we got in the end.
While Sondergaard, who was 40 at the time, looked great, the studio also had her do a test in more traditional ugly witch makeup, which led to her dropping out of the film.
Sondergaard reportedly feared that wearing makeup that disfigured her and made her look older would damage her career, as Hollywood was even more difficult for actresses over 40 at the time then it is now. So she dropped out of the role, opening the door for Hamilton.
In the new Wicked film, The Wicked Witch of the West, also known as Elphaba, is played by the amazing Cynthia Erivo. She stars alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero.
Wicked opens in theaters November 22.
