Ethan Slater landing the role of Boq in 'Wicked' has an element of magic to it

You could say that Ethan Slater's yellow brick road to getting cast in the big screen adaptation of “Wicked” had an element of magic to it.

On the day he was asked to submit a tape of himself for the role of Boq, Slater was playing the part of actor Christopher Fitzgerald's identical twin in a table read for a potential musical. Fitzgerald originated the role of Boq in “Wicked” on Broadway. “I didn’t tell him about it ‘cause I didn’t want to explain when I didn’t get it,'” admitted Slater. Instead, he marked the occasion by asking Fitzgerald to take a selfie with him for seemingly no reason, which he still has.

After getting the job, Slater was determined to master the delicate dance of keeping the essence of Fitzgerald in a role that was now his.

“I look up to him so much,” Slater said of Fitzgerald. “I wanted to honor the Boq he created who’s just, like, a burst of energy. But I also wanted to make him my own because I could never be Chris Fitzgerald. He's too singular and too amazing. It would be a fool’s errand to try to be him.”

In turn, Fitzgerald, who has seen the film, gave Slater's performance a glowing review. Slater says he plans to print and frame a text message that Fitzgerald sent him afterward.

“Ethan has this perfect balance of soulfulness and funny bones as an actor,” Fitzgerald said in an email to the AP. “His Boq is earnest, daffy, and generous of heart. It was such a pleasure and a gift to watch a pal use the spirit of something that’s come before and spin it into something new and wholly original. He is Boq.”

“Wicked” is a prequel to the events of “Wizard of Oz.” It stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Jonathan Bailey plays a prince, Fiyero, who encounters Glinda and Elphaba at school.

The story was conceived by Gregory Macguire for a novel called “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

Slater says filming the big-budget movie directed by Jon M. Chu ("Crazy Rich Asians" and “In the Heights”) actually felt much smaller. At its heart, the cast is just a bunch of theater kids who love to perform.

“I keep quoting Johnny Bailey who said while we were shooting, ‘it just feels like a student film until suddenly it doesn’t,'" said Slater.

Erivo, Grande, Bailey and Slater all come from a musical theater background. In 2018, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his leading performance in “SpongeBob SquarePants" on Broadway. He was also in the revival of “Spamalot" in 2023.

“We all cared so much. We cared in the way that theater kids care and want to protect this show and want the opportunity to do it. It was really, really joyful and familial," said Slater.

Because the experience was so magical, Slater said the actors find themselves reminiscing even when they're not promoting it.

“Going to dinner last night, we were all still talking about ‘Wicked,’ and it’s like another theater kid thing, you know, hyper-fixating on this thing that we love so much," he said.

The actors sang live on set which Slater said makes for a better performance.

“You are using your voice in the same way from scene into song, into scene. And there’s no break at all. You’re not thinking about syncing. You’re not thinking about dubbing later. You’re just performing it," he said.

“Wicked,” premiering Nov. 22, will be released in two parts. The second film is scheduled for a November 2025 debut.

Slater recognizes that breaking up the film is a “controversial decision.”

"I empathize with that, but when you see this movie, I think it’s a really full movie with a beginning, middle and end. You get to know these characters and love these characters. I think the first thing you’re going to want to do is watch the movie a second time. I’m on pins and needles waiting for the second one."

On screen, Boq has an unrequited crush on Glinda. Off screen, Slater and Grande are a couple in real life.

“Her fans are going to be blown away," he said. "Anybody who’s a fan of Ariana knows how talented she is. They know that she has, you know, one of the best voices, of our generation — or ever — and can do anything with it. I think that her acting is like above and beyond. It’s incredible. Her comedy is ridiculous."

Slater also stars in the film “Lost on a Mountain in Maine," now in theaters. And he's developing “a really beautiful play about humanity” where he would star as French mime Marcel Marceau.

“The thing in theater is you can’t really celebrate it until opening night and then you really shouldn’t until it closes either. But we’re really excited about its future, and hopefully there will be more news about it soon.”

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Ethan Slater arrives at the premiere of "Wicked" on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Ethan Slater arrives at the premiere of "Wicked" on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Actor Ethan Slater poses for a portrait on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.

As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.

It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.

Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.

Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.

"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”

Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.

“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”

Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.

Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.

Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.

Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”

Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.

The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.

The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.

The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.

Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”

“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”

The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.

The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.

“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)