WICKED has been at the forefront of several discussions; the project comprising of a highly stellar cast. The project based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' narrates the story of Elphaba, a misunderstood soul and her unexpected camaraderie with Glinda. 

The project has already had a Tony-winning sensational Broadway Musical Production and now the story finally hits the big screen; giving us a glimpse into the intricate world of The Land of Oz and the diverse sweet and sour characters that lives within it.   

One of those characters is ShenShen. Portrayed by the Wickedly talented (much pun intended) Bronwyn James, ShenShen is a character not to be messed with. Often seen by Glinda's side, Wicked delves into ShenShen's notoriety and her iniquitous acts. 

Our latest cover star Bronwyn James recently joined us to discuss her acting process, how Glinda came knocking at her door (quite literally) as she recalls her memories meeting Ariana Grande for the first time, her most memorable scene to shoot and watch, as well as what can fans expect from this immensely anticipated live-action film-adaptation of WICKED. 

Hi there Bronwyn! Thank you for joining us! First of all, huge congratulations on your involvement in the Wicked Movie. So, I would love to know how were you personally introduced to the world of Wicked. 

Were you a fan of the original Broadway musical or did you get to know about it after you were offered the role? 

Absolutely. I have been a fan of Wicked since its inception. It was actually the first show I ever saw on the West End; my first time being in London as a kid seeing it on the West End and since then I've seen it about seven times over the years. 

It's one of those shows that like if I've got friends visiting or I'm looking for something fun to do, it's always a good time seeing it. It's never a tedious experience and is absolutely incredible every single time I see it. I'll probably see it even more times now.

I think it deserves to be seen multiple times, it's such a beautiful production.

I would love for you to walk me through how the entire initial audition process went for you? Do you remember your first impressions of your character when you were offered the script?

Yes, so, I was kind of familiar with the characters of ShenShen and Pfannee from the books. They're obviously in the books, but in the stage musical, they're not really featured a whole lot, so it's really good that these two characters have kind of been fleshed-out and brought to the forefront a bit more, which I enjoy. 

But in terms of the audition process, I tell you what, it is really a testament to how serious and devoted the casting team was because I had to audition six or seven times over a few months. They're not messing around when it comes to finding the right people. 

So it was first a self-tape, then an in-person meeting with casting, an in-person meeting with Jon (M. Chu), a dance audition, a chemistry audition where they partnered people off and then a recall for that so all in I believe it was six or seven times.

But every time I was just like 'You know what? Even if I don't get the part, I'll come in, run people's coffees, I'll be one of the lighting people, I'll change careers.'

Like I have to be in this film, it doesn't matter in what capacity so actually getting to be a named character was just wonderful. 

And what was the general creative process behind portraying this character? Did you have any particular acting ritual that you loved to immerse yourself into in order to get into the mindset of your character before going in front of the cameras? 

Absolutely, yes. So, at the very beginning of rehearsals, myself and Bowen (Yang), we did a lot of character work and improvising. For myself, I think one of the biggest things that helped me get into the mind of this bitchy sidekick that I was playing was watching Mean Girls.
I watched that far too many times. There were a few real-life people too; there were a couple of YouTubers that I watched and also old-school Paris Hilton and all the old-school divas of the 2000s. 

It was just really getting my inner diva on. And the nails became this huge thing for ShenShen. She's always just constantly like 'Oh my god. I love my nails!'

So, yes, it was a lot of listening to 2000s pop and being not very nice which is always fun to play. 

Do you remember meeting your co-stars and crew for the first time as well as your first day on set? Like what was that entire experience like?

I met Bowen (Yang) during rehearsals and he was so wonderful to work with. He's someone that is so funny and so quick that it feels like you're being in really good hands with him in terms of being a co-star.

With Ariana (Grande), meeting her for the first time was such an out-of-body experience. It was during rehearsals and I had not met her yet.
I had been rehearsing for maybe a week or two, just getting the lay of the land. We were all in these little dressing rooms that we could go and have our lunch in.

I remember I was having my lunch one day, and then there was a tiny knock on the door just like a feather and I was like, 'Oh, hi. Come in!'; thinking it's an AD or someonefrom production. 

And Ariana comes skittering and she's like 'Oh my god, Bronwyn. Hi! I've been dying to meet you!' and I'm like, 'You're Ariana! You're Ariana!'
She was so lovely, sweet, opening and so welcoming, bubbly, and wonderful and she was like that every single day on set.

It was the same with Cynthia (Erivo). I met her for the first time during rehearsals as well. She was sitting during a part of rehearsals that we were in but she wasn't actually rehearsing in. 

Although she was there every single day even if she wasn't rehearsing anything or participating; she was always around where the action was and we sat down and had a good chat- talked about weddings because I was getting married at the time. It was just a cast full of incredible, amazing, talented people.

And what can you tell us about your character and her arc in this movie? I think a lot of people consider her a novel addition into this movie even though ShenShen has been a big part of the books and musical. 

So for the people who haven't been introduced to this character yet, what can you tell us regarding what the fans can expect from your performance in this upcoming project? 

She is very much the little devil that sits on Glinda's shoulder. Everyone knows ShenShen and Pfannee; they're known and not well-liked. So, they're these characters that kind of ride off the coattails and success of Glinda.

They're very much like, 'Oh, you should do this. Like, we're going to be your number one fans, but you're going to do it in a way that we want you to do it.'

So, they're definitely people that kind of initiate the change in Glinda. She's gone her whole life being very perfect, popular and maybe a bit selfish in a way. 

And it takes the kind of cruelty of ShenShen and Pfannee of them being like 'We'll make her wear this ugly hat. Let's humiliate her. She doesn't belong here.'

And it takes Glinda seeing that cruelty from people who are her best friends and being like, 'Actually, I don't want to be a part of this. I'm going to go down a different way.' 

It's definitely more of a fleshed-out arc for Pfannee and ShenShen. But by the end of it, they don't really learn their lesson, as those people never do. 

Is there any specific sequence that you're very much looking forward to receiving everyone's reactions on? Perhaps a favourite scene of yours that you absolutely loved shooting?

Oh, that is such a difficult choice because there are so many incredible parts in it. I believe my most favourite parts of the film was 'Loathing' or 'What is This Feeling?'

So, it's this big hate number between Elphaba and Glinda and it's where they're first introduced as enemies that then become friends. Weeks and weeks we rehearsed that, and then we broke for Summer and came back to film it in Autumn.

And by that point, I'd forgotten the entire dance. So it was a lot of like, 'Okay, I'm just going to grab the nearest professional dancer to me.' and be like, 'Please teach me the dance again.'

But luckily everyone was very sweet and nice. It actually turned out being one of my favorite things to film because you're just surrounded by everyone who's really talented, amazing, stunning dancers and I'm like, 'Okay. I'm just going to pretend I know what I'm doing.' 

And there's one of the other scenes which was definitely one of my favourites to watch because luckily I was part of the scene. It's the part where Glinda and Elphaba are at the Ozdust. And, spoiler alert, Elphaba comes down. She's wearing the hat that she's been goaded into wearing, and everyone's pointing and laughing. 

And it's a really difficult scene. It's a difficult scene to watch, because you watch Cynthia as Elphaba and she's crying. It's this big public humiliation scene and having to look at Cynthia who is like head-to-toe perfect in every way and point and laugh is awful and I hated it. 

But it's such a beautiful scene because in every single take, Ariana and Cynthia were just right there in the emotions and it was just really special to watch these two people have this already strong friendship in themselves, but also seeing their characters strive for that as well. 

A lot of actors that I talk to usually have an element or aspect that they take away from their time and experience on set- be it their costumes, the makeup, memories with their co-stars, etc, so is there anything in particular that you feel like you took away from your time on the wicked production? 

Definitely! I mean obviously having an incredible and just fun experience with the cast, crew and everyone on WICKED was the biggest take. Because there was such a lack of egos, or this mentality of 'This is a job- I'm just going to come in, get it done and go.'

Everyone was so in it and so committed to it because it's WICKED. It's precious. As a WICKED super fan, I am precious about it. And everyone else was like that as well. 

No one was half-arsing it. There was no one pulling any punches. So, having a cast like that is quite a rare thing actually. 

I believe the other thing that can really be taken away from my own kind of personal experience was how it's such a good moral story. 

It's such a good thorough of integrity and that's why people love WICKED so much; it's because it's got such a good, strong message to it and that's why I've seen it seven times, gonna be eight in a bit soon! (Laughs). 

Wrapping up our beautiful conversation, I have to ask you, what's next for you, Bronwyn? 

Apart from this highly-anticipated movie that I and probably millions of other people around the world can't wait to watch, is there anything else you're currently working on that you'd like to tell us or your fans about? 

I've just finished shooting the new live-action of 'How to Train Your Dragon'. We were filming that in Belfast from January till about April. 
So, that's something that's still very much like in the very long process of being edited and everything. But I'm really excited for that coming out. That should be coming out at some point in my life, I hope. (Laughs)  

But yes, that was again another Universal Production, so of course, it was amazing to work on that as well. I've been very lucky, recently, that everyone I've been working with is really nice. 

It's just very lucky to have two jobs in a year where I really liked everyone I have been working with and I'm really proud of both the projects.

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Watch our Video Interview with the WICKED Star:- 

Witness Bronwyn James as ShenShen in WICKED; premiering and in theatres (22nd November).