Jeff Goldblum has made a major lifestyle change because of “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu.
“Working with Jon Chu [is] amazing. It’s changed me,” Goldblum, who plays the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in both “Wicked” films, said during a recent interview on the U.K. talk show “This Morning.”
“You know, after doing this movie — we talked about the animal cruelty [in the film] — I stopped eating meat and poultry,” Goldblum revealed. “So, this Christmas and Thanksgiving I may be having something else. … We need the world to work for everybody on earth and every creature too.”
Cruelty to animals is a major theme in the “Wicked” films. In “Wicked: Part 1,” which hit theaters in November 2024, Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) learns that Oz’s anthropomorphic creatures are losing their speaking voices.
Her professor Doctor Dillamond’s (Peter Dinklage) office is vandalized with a threatening message that “animals should be seen and not heard.” Doctor Dillamond, who is a goat, is later forcibly removed from his teaching position at Shiz University.
Goldblum is not the only “Wicked” star who refrains from eating meat. Erivo and Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda, have both been vegan for years.
“I’ve eaten organically since I was little and always kept meat minimal but yesterday marked my first day as a 100% Vegan!!!! Joyous day,” Grande wrote via Facebook in 2013. She has spoken about her plant-based diet on several occasions since then.
“I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding,” the singer told The Mirror in 2014. “I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-round happier person. It is tricky dining out, but I just stick to what I know – veggies, fruit and salad – then when I get home I’ll have something else.”
Erivo discussed her longtime veganism during a June appearance on the food-based podcast “The Dish.”
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“When I was vegan, my body was really happy. When I wasn’t, it was very sluggish and couldn’t really function,” she explained.
The second “Wicked” film, “Wicked: For Good,” hits theaters on Friday, Nov. 21. Goldblum, Erivo, and Grande all star in the musical movie.
Goldblum said on “This Morning” that he is “starstruck” by Erivo and Grande.
“If they open their mouths, I’m just in a puddle of tears,” he said. “I think they’re otherworldly.”
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