Colman Domingo will see you in Oz.
The Oscar-nominated actor has been tapped to voice the Cowardly Lion in “Wicked: For Good.” The announcement was made Monday in a short clip shared by the film's and Domingo's Instagram accounts, showing the Emmy winner hiding behind an adorable stuffed lion before the reveal.
In an interview published last week on Deadline, “Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu was coy about the identity of who he had cast in the role in the second installment of his musical adaptation.
“Man, wait until the red carpet when the actor who gave us the voice of the Cowardly Lion sets foot on it,” he said to tease the then secret casting. “It's going to be crazy.”
However, she did reveal that she reached out to the “celebrity actor,” who we now know is Domingo, by sliding into his direct messages.
“I was like, 'It's not a lot of lines, but maybe you have a little time. I know you're busy. I'll come see you,'” Chu said of their exchange on Instagram. “He was like, 'Why the fuck not, let's go!' And then we went ahead and recorded the lines.”
Famous for being one of Dorothy's traveling companions in L. Frank Baum's “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and its various adaptations, the Cowardly Lion is introduced in “Wicked” as a caged young cub who is brought to Shiz by a new teacher after the school bans all animals from teaching. An enraged Elphaba helps the lion cub escape. “Wicked: For Good,” which takes place years after the events of the first film, will see that puppy grow up.
“Wicked: For Good” stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande once again as Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland, respectively, at a time when they are known as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Also returning from “Wicked” are Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Jeff Goldblum (The Wizard), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Ethan Slater (Boq) and Marissa Bode (Nessarose).
The film will hit theaters on November 21.
