Wicked features a vibrant cast of characters, including one played by the legendary Peter Dinklage, whose casting came as something of a surprise due to previous media coverage suggesting the role he ended up playing would likely go to a woman. Wicked primarily follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera), who meet and become friends at Shiz University. The two future witches change each other’s lives irrevocably, but their paths are also altered by those around them, including peers, partners, and teachers.

Almost immediately, Elphaba and Glinda find themselves in a complicated power dynamic with both Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and Dinklage’s Dr. Dillamond. Morrible doesn’t want to teach Glinda magic but favors Elphaba, motivating jealousy that worsens the initial hostility between the two roommates. Elphaba also bonds with Dillamond, a talking goat who teaches history and makes Elphaba aware of the oppression the animals of Oz are facing. Dillamond was previously well-known as a character because of his presence in the Broadway show, but his journey to the screen included some news that didn’t turn out to be true.

Wicked Theory Suggested That Dr. Dillamond Would Be Gender-Swapped In The Movie

An Interview With Bowen Yang Led To Most Forums Assuming This About Dillamond’s Character

In 2023, there was widespread speculation about the upcoming Wicked movie, which was treated as a fact, that Dr. Dillamond’s character would be gender-swapped. This was even accompanied by theories that this would be Idina Menzel’s role in the Wicked movie. Yet the final movie presents the character as male, which was assumed as soon as Dinklage’s casting was announced. This media coverage was largely the result of Bowen Yang’s (who plays Glinda’s friend Pfannee in the movie) comments in an interview (via Just Jared):

“The goat is staying, unfortunately. The goat is in. You’re going to love the goat […] Right now it’s a lovely puppeteer. They’re going to cast her later, but right now it’s a puppeteer named Louisa and she’s been doing amazing line reads.”

Essentially, Dillamond’s actor had not yet been chosen while the rest of the Wicked cast was filming. At the time, a puppeteer who is a woman was operating a stand-in puppet on-set for the frame of reference for the VFX scene. Yang’s comments about her being on set led to the assumption that the character was also female. However, given that he specified that Dillamond had yet to be cast, it is also possible that they were considering gender-swapping the character but changed their minds later.

Why Peter Dinklage’s Casting As Dr. Dillamond In Wicked Was For The Best

Dinklage Was An Excellent Choice For Dillamond, While The Movie Makes Some Great Changes Surrounding The Character

Custom image by Simone Ashmoore

Yang also commented that Dillamond would “unfortunately” be in the movie, obliquely alluding to Dr. Dillamond not being Wicked‘s most popular character, with one of the most boring songs. However, casting Dinklage was a stroke of genius for Dillamond, as were some other creative decisions made surrounding him. Dinklage’s grave voice, associated with the various famous fictional geniuses he has played, immediately makes Dillamond a more serious character in the audience’s minds — no small feat, when he is playing a talking goat in the inherently wacky setting of Oz.

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Jon M. Chu and his team also saved Dillamond’s song “Something Bad,” replacing parts that Elphaba sings in the show with other animals who are actually affected by what is being discussed. They also created an intriguingly haunting effect with Dillamond’s speech to his fellow animals being accompanied by shadow puppet visuals. At this point, there are few things that people can say are wrong about the Wicked movie. Chu came up with amazing on-screen executions for almost everything, including Dr. Dillamond.

Source: Just Jared