The Wicked screenwriter has finally explained why she put Elphaba in a chunky ‘sex cardigan’

There has been a main character who overshadowed Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked, and it’s not even any of the actual performers. I am of course discussing the Wicked ‘sex cardigan’ – the costuming decision that has dominated every slice of Wicked For Good discourse. For those who are unaware with its reputation, the Elphaba sex cardigan occurs in the sexy As Long As You’re Mine – where Elphaba and Fiyero finally act on all their sexual tension. To maintain the film’s PG rating and keep children’s bums on seats the film toned down the sexier elements of the song from the show although it’s pretty obvious what they’re up to. With all the chat about the Elphaba sex cardigan, the Wicked For Good screenwriter Winnie Holzman explains what’s going on with it.

It was all very intentional

Speaking in a new interview with Variety after people still can’t stop talking about the Elphaba sex cardigan, the Wicked For Good screenwriter Winnie Holzman explains how she penned that scene.

“That’s Paul Tazewell’s cardigan. I did think it was really sexy, the idea that he, Fiyero, comes to see her lair, where she has been hiding, living and keeping herself. It’s so sexy that she brings him into her secret world. I did write that he’s looking at her things. He plays it so beautifully. You’re seeing him fall more in love with her as he’s walking through her world and realizing how she lives. He’s thrown off by her and the depth of his feelings that are being evoked — he’s not the player anymore.

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“It’s almost like he doesn’t know how to do it. I pictured this character as someone who’s seduced a lot of women. I’m not saying he cheated on Glinda, but I’m saying that in his past, before he even got to Shiz, he had a lot of fun. He doesn’t quite know how to operate.

“She starts to make it sexual. Then he starts to realize he’s really there, and he’s really turned on. He’s never been in a situation like that before. Neither has she, for real. What I think is really sexy about the way they’re playing it is how subtle it is, because they’re two such incredible actors.

“The way Cynthia plays that, I think, is so beautiful because she’s so guarded. She knows what’s going to happen, and she wants it to happen. She takes her time, and that’s a sexy thing too, that build up, ‘This is really going to happen. We don’t have to rush.'”

I need a cold shower after that. Paul Tazewell, for context, is the costume designer who worked on the film. Just so we have someone to point the blame at. March of the Witchhunters but it’s just us after the Elphaba sex cardigan.

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