--- title: Idina Menzel: I Was Told I'm Too Old for 'Wicked' Movie Role description: The actress, who played Elphaba in the musical's original Broadway run, said she was told she was too old to play the part again in a movie canonical: https://time.com/87908/idinia-menzel-wicked-let-it-go/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-05T15:57:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:39:26.265Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Idina Menzel: I Was Told I'm Too Old for 'Wicked' Movie Role og:description: The actress, who played Elphaba in the musical's original Broadway run, said she was told she was too old to play the part again in a movie og:url: https://time.com/87908/idinia-menzel-wicked-let-it-go/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38878e0296e1d22a/69868e0513c79fcf84191f60/idina_menzel.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: idina_menzel og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Idina Menzel: I Was Told I'm Too Old for 'Wicked' Movie Role twitter:description: The actress, who played Elphaba in the musical's original Broadway run, said she was told she was too old to play the part again in a movie twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38878e0296e1d22a/69868e0513c79fcf84191f60/idina_menzel.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Idina Menzel Was Told She's Too Old For _Wicked_ Movie Role  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney May 5, 2014 3:57 PM UTC  Idina Menzel appears on NBC News' Today show Idina Menzel appears on NBC News' Today showPeter Kramer—NBC NewsWire/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney May 5, 2014 3:57 PM UTC It’s time for Idina “Adele Dazeem” Menzel to _let it go_ when it comes to her dream of starring in a _Wicked_ movie. During an appearance on Andy Cohen’s _Watch What Happens Live_ talk show on Bravo, the actress, who played Elphaba in the original Broadway run of _Wicked_, said she and co-star Kristin Chenoweth, who played Galinda, were told they were [too old to reprise their roles](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/idina-menzel-on-wicked-movie-i-might-have-to-play-elphabas-mother). “I would die to be in \[the movie\], except I’m afraid Kristin and I… they told us we’re a little over the age for that,” Menzel said. The actress has found wider fame since appearing in _Wicked_ as the voice of Queen Elsa in the Disney movie _Frozen_, in which she sang the Oscar-winning song _Let it Go._ The characters of Elphaba and Galinda are college students at Shiz University when they first meet. Menzel is only 42, but that’s still a fair amount older than your average university co-ed. Last year, Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson [told The Hollywood _Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/universal-chairman-wants-fifty-shades-422217) that an adaptation of the acclaimed musical was in the works, though it had not yet been green-lit. “I believe that we are collectively moving toward _Wicked_ coming to the screen sooner rather than later,” he said. \[[_Cosmopolitan_](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/idina-menzel-on-wicked-movie-i-might-have-to-play-elphabas-mother)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/87908/idinia-menzel-wicked-let-it-go/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/87908/idinia-menzel-wicked-let-it-go/"},"headline":"Idina Menzel Was Told She's Too Old For Wicked Movie Role","datePublished":"2014-05-05T15:57:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:39:26.265Z","description":"The 42-year-old actress, who played Elphaba in the musical's original Broadway run, claims to have been told she wasn't young enough to play the part again in a movie","url":"https://time.com/87908/idinia-menzel-wicked-let-it-go/","keywords":["movies","Let it Go","Idina Menzel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38878e0296e1d22a/69868e0513c79fcf84191f60/idina_menzel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38878e0296e1d22a/69868e0513c79fcf84191f60/idina_menzel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"idina_menzel","caption":"Idina Menzel appears on NBC News' Today show","creditText":"Peter Kramer—NBC NewsWire/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/87908/idinia-menzel-wicked-let-it-go/","name":"Idina Menzel Was Told She's Too Old For Wicked Movie Role"}}]}] ```