Michelle Williams had a great reason to accept the role of Glinda, the Good Witch in Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful: “I wanted to make a movie that my daughter could see…"
Michelle Williams had a great reason to accept the role of Glinda, the Good Witch in Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful: “I wanted to make a movie that my daughter could see. And I was really excited to be part of something that had an overall good message and that wasn’t tainted with sarcasm or ill humor.
What was it about this project that intrigued you and why did you want to be a part of this movie?
I wanted to make a movie that my daughter could see. And I was really excited to be part of something that had an overall good message and that wasn’t tainted with sarcasm or ill humor. I was really excited to play Glinda, the good witch, who is the embodiment of everything that is honest and unselfish and pure.
Can you give a brief summary of what the movie is about?
Oz is about a man who travels from the real world into a fantastical world, and as a result of the people that he meets, is changed for the better.
Who do you play and what goes on with her in the film?
I play Glinda, the good witch. When we meet her, she has been waiting for the fulfillment of a prophecy. There is a prophecy that a great wizard is going to fall from the sky and deliver them from the tyranny of the evil witches. And so she meets Oz and has really high hopes for who he is and for what he’s going to do for her people. Then she has to come to terms with the fact that he is not quite what she expected.
Does Oz and Glinda’s relationship evolve over the course of the film?
Yes, their relationship does evolve over the film. Glinda always believes the best in him even when there isn’t all the evidence to support that, even when he’s behaving like a cad and a selfish man. Glinda always believes the best about people and that’s the attitude that she takes with Oz in the very beginning. Glinda’s an optimistic person by nature and, despite evidence to the contrary, she always believes the best in Oz, and that view is rewarded at the end of the movie when he grows into the man that she always knew that he was. It’s just that he was the only one who couldn’t see it.
There’s an epic battle at the end of the movie. Can you talk about Glinda’s role in that battle?
When we first meet Glinda, she has been rendered powerless by the witches, and in a way, by the prophecy, which says a great man will save the kingdom. So, when the battle dawns, Glinda is actually front and centre. She isn’t a sort of a figurehead. She’s out there on the front lines leading the people and guiding the people. But in the middle of the battle, she is captured and carried away. At a very crucial moment she thinks that maybe Oz has abandoned her and the people for gold, for fear, for money, for who knows what. But of course, he comes back.
Talk about the look Glinda has in the film, and did you have a favorite look of hers?
The look took a lot of time. It evolved. There were so many costume fittings and wig fittings. For a moment we thought maybe that Glinda would have short hair. Then I realized, having a little girl, that she should instead be the fulfillment of every child’s fantasy of what a princess looks like. I liked her transition. I like that when we meet her, she’s sort of demure and she’s cloaked in these very delicate fabrics. And then as the battle dawns, she has a wardrobe change and appropriately suits up in something that is slightly more like armor. Like fairy princess armour, but like armour.
23 February 2013
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