Header illustration courtesy of Jessica Ing (@j.c.ing__).
Jon M. Chu, the acclaimed director behind “Step up 2: The Streets” (2007), “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018) and “In the Heights” (2021), graced the stage of Lucas Theatre this past Sunday, to accept the Vanguard Award presented by the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Between an uber-inspiring acceptance speech and insightful chat with Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Ford, Chu brought humor, charm and wisdom to a new generation of filmmakers. In case you missed it, here’s five memorable moments from “In Conversation: Jon M. Chu.”
1. From a Chinese restaurant to international acclaim
Ford opened the conversation with a question applicable to everyone from students to seasoned industry professionals like Chu himself. In simple terms—what made the director want to direct. Chu proceeded to treat the audience to a heartfelt story about his time growing up in his parents’ Chinese restaurant. As a child, he always had a keen interest in visual art, drawing pictures while sitting at the bar of the restaurant—until one day he received a Super Eight camera.
“I would do little animated movies with my with my toys, and then my mom made me carry the video camera on these family vacations,” he said.
But it wasn’t until Chu spliced the footage together that it really made an impact.
“I got a mixer, put your CD player in it, your VCR in it, and I cut together this video of my family, and I showed them, and my parents started to cry watching it,” he recalled. “It was it was just like that. This is a thing that I didn’t know how to do before—but something about pictures and music and editing it together gave me a power I didn’t know I had.”
2. The power of collaboration (even when sharing one bathroom with eight people)
During his Vanguard Award acceptance speech, Chu dropped many golden nuggets of advice for young filmmakers, along with a notable anecdote from his time at the University of Southern California’s (USC) School for Cinematic Arts. He stressed to the wide-eyed audience of SCAD students how impactful it was for him “find his tribe of artists” and those “spoke his language.” That is, even when you live in a small rundown house with eight people.
“We lived in a run-down house—eight film students, one disgusting bathroom,” he said. “It was terrible, but we loved it. We called it our fight club house.’”
After an eruption of laughs, Chu quipped, “And now I’m in a beautiful suite at the hotel ordering room service.”
3. Movie-musical magic
Considering the mass critical success of “Wicked” (2024), it’s no surprise that Chu took the time to share why he believes movie musicals have best-ified all genres of film. Musicals have been ever-present in life, noting that nearly every weekend growing up his family would go to their local theatre like a ritual of sorts. He described the way song and dance can transcend the spoken word, offering a deeper look into what a character is going through in a present moment. As for favorite movie musicals? “The Sound of Music” (1965), “Cabaret” (1972) and the legendary “West Side Story” (1961), of course.
“You get to go inside the character and your language of being able to do that isn’t just a chorus. It’s not entertainment,” he said. “You get three notes that communicate what a paragraph of dialog can never communicate.”
4. A wicked time on set
It wouldn’t be right not to share a few exclusive details about what it was like working with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Ford asked Chu about what his approach was to helping actors through difficult moments on set. Though she didn’t request he name names, Grande and Erivo (who Chu affectionately called “the girls”) were top of mind. He emphasized how freakishly (or wickedly, if you will) talented they were prior to taking on the roles of Glinda and Elphaba but noted that characters changed them.
“I’m not gong to say [it changed them] for good,” he joked in reference to the film’s highly anticipated sequel.
Chu recalled watching Erivo’s first rendition of the “Wizard and I,” and seeing her transform into a little girl before his eyes. Erivo, who he added is iconic (to which the audience agreed), had already made herself available in the way Elphaba required, but was ultimately quite scared to portray her as a caricature of a witch.
“It was a very delicate balance of us finding it together. It wasn’t me like, ‘Hey, here’s how it’s going to go.’ It was, ‘I understand all those concerns, and I actually really love this version of Elphaba that you’re talking about,” he said. “Because for us, the audience is going to be in Elphaba’s place…So we’re going to get really deep with her; we’re going to really go there with her.”
5. Channeling your inner Glinda and Elphaba
The final, and likely most insightful part of the entire conversation, was when Chu was asked which “Wicked” character he most resonates with. In true directorial fashion, his answer was simple: Glinda and Elphaba represent two sides of all of us.
He described getting to free the film’s titular Elphaba from having to prove herself to anyone and surrender to her own individual power—something the director noted he’d felt in his own life.
“I’ve always felt like an underdog. I’ve always felt like people doubt and don’t believe that you can do what you aspire to do. I think they’ve never seen someone that looks like you do this,” he said. “[They think] it’s too big of a dream for someone like you. And so I always feel the need to prove myself. And that motivates me. Say you don’t think so—let’s go. That’s my start.”
As for his inner Glinda, he emphasized that a great deal of us are similar to her in the sense that we yearn for certain safety in the way things are. Even amidst injustices and hard truths, we often find ourselves staying away from it for the sake of feeling secure.
“I think being able to guide Glinda through [that] journey, to release her of that and say, ‘We are all going through this life together,’” he said. “I think all of that was really helpful for me over the years—even with this movie in it itself—to say I’m partially free of some of those things.”
When Chu exited the stage, it was only after signing numerous “Wicked” themed items and a standing ovation from the audience. It’s safe to say that at “Wicked: For Good,” will only amplify the filmmaker’s status to the highest tier of movie-musical savant. Glinda, Elphaba, and Jon M. Chu’s Act Two vision will return to theatres on November 21.
