Wish Producers Break Down Casting Process

WIsh is heading to theaters next weekend, and it stars Ariana DeBose as Asha, a girl who learns a dark secret about her kingdom's wish-granting ruler, Magnifico, who is voiced by Chris Pine. The voice cast also includes the talents of Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, Ramy Youssef, and Jon Rudnitsky. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to interview Wish producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones who spoke a little bit about the film's casting process.

"I mean, we all started with Asha because we wanted to find the point of view of who is wishing on a star," Lancaster Jones explained.  "It wanted to be a very relatable character that we could all see ourselves in. And then we found Ariana, who's the most genuine, cool, enthusiastic person ever. And she just brought a lot to the table and she brought in the different flavors of the character. So I believe she really took the character to a different level. And then Chris Pine..."

"Yeah, certainly the casting process is very different because we started in the pandemic," Del Vecho added. "So oftentimes we listen to voices and we have an idea of what the character is. We've already designed the character and we start to listen to voices against the character. And Magnifico was tricky because Magnifico has to be charming and handsome and believable because you have to believe that people would move from anywhere and willingly give him their wishes to protect. But he also has to sing, and he also has to have enough gravitas that when he devolves into a true villain, that they can carry that. And Chris, once we heard Chris, it was no question that he was the right casting." 

What Is Wish About?

You can read the official synopsis for Wish here: In Wish, Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen. Featuring the voices of Academy Award®-winning actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, Chris Pine as Magnifico, and Alan Tudyk as Asha's favorite goat, Valentino, the film is helmed by Oscar®-winning director Chris Buck (Frozen, Frozen 2) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (Raya and the Last Dragon), produced by Peter Del Vecho (Frozen, Frozen 2) and co-produced by Juan Pablo Reyes (Encanto). 

Jennifer Lee (Frozen, Frozen 2) executive produces — Lee and Allison Moore (Night Sky, Manhunt) are writers on the project. With original songs by Grammy®-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice, plus a score by composer Dave Metzger.

Wish opens only in theaters on November 22nd.