Wicked’s Marissa Bode Shares How Role Has Changed Her for Good 

And yet, “The story means so many different things to so many different people,” she added. “And the connection people make with various characters—I think that’s such a true testament to the art that has been Wicked.”

After all, Marissa herself has been a longtime lover of Wicked and its many characters. But while she plays Nessa onscreen, it was the greenified Elphaba who first captured her heart in real life.

“She’s just someone who is so bold, who knows herself in a lot of ways, and doesn’t let outside views sway her,” Marissa explained. “And I really admire that in her. I love a strong character who knows what she wants.”

Her costar Jonathan Bailey—Fiyero on screens—also reflected on Wicked’s message of acceptance, something that he said has always resonated as someone who grew up being made fun of for his sexuality.

It’s that extraordinary thing,” the recently crowned Sexiest Man Alive reflected at the premiere. “It’s a very real and true story for everyone who is deemed other or doesn’t fall into a typical understanding. And that is what Wicked is about. It’s about otherness and it’s about identity and the power of that.”

As he put it, “I think that's what hopefully feels incredibly human.”

For more from the spellbinding premiere of Wicked: For Good, read on.