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 .