Idina Menzel “gets to learn” life lessons from her characters.
Idina Menzel has learned some life lessons from her famous characters
The 53-year-old actress won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Elphaba, the misunderstood green girl, in the smash hit Broadway musical ‘Wicked’ two decades ago and then found further fame when she voiced the role of Elsa in Disney’s megahit ‘Frozen’ and often uses her characters to tell herself what she “needs to hear” at her stage in life.
She told CBS Pittsburgh: “The roles are gifts, honestly. I get to learn from them. They are reminders for me to embrace my power and to love who I am. Yes, they resonate with young audiences and they’re quite the role model but they also remind me as a woman in her 50s what I need to hear sometimes.”
‘Wicked’ serves as a prequel to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and explains how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be, and Idina admitted that she is “definitely excited” to see the upcoming Hollywood film version, which will star Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba alongside pop star Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good Witch.
She said: “Definitely excited to see it, yeah. They’re bringing all the right energy and emotional connection and understanding to the characters so I’m just excited to reach an even wider audience than it has already.”
The ‘Move’ hitmaker previously admitted that she was looking forward to the upcoming film adaptation of ‘Wicked’ but ultimately felt sad that she was “too old” to return to the role that brought her so much success.
She told Broadway.com: “I’m very excited and I know it’s in great hands and I’ve sent so much love to Cynthia and Ariana and I’m there for them if they need me. And yes, I’m a little sad that I’m just older and can’t play the role, you know? And that’s the honest truth.
“It’s the aging and the proprietorship of the role and what it means to me and how it changed my life. I just love it, and I miss her, I guess, is what I’m trying to say.”
