Denzel Washington at the Piper-Heidsieck Tribute press conference at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Sandria Miller
By the Archives team
This past week moviegoers celebrated the long-awaited double feature of “Glicked.” Or is it “Wickiator”? Either way, the highly anticipated Wicked and Gladiator II released on the same day, and we wanted to join in on the celebrations by highlighting Sundance alums who are a part of these films.
Denzel Washington (pictured above), who steals scenes as the ambitious arms dealer Macrinus in Gladiator II, has appeared in several Sundance-supported films, including Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala in 1992. He was awarded the Piper-Heidsieck Tribute to Independent Vision at the 1993 Festival. He also served as a Sundance trustee for many years and participated as a creative advisor at several Screenwriters and Directors Labs in the ’90s.
Cynthia Erivo defies gravity on screen as the powerful witch Elphaba in the new Wicked film adaptation, but before that, she was one of the dramatic competition jurors at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and she starred in and produced the 2023 Festival film Drift, the story of a Liberian refugee who flees to a Greek island and comes to terms with her past.
Pedro Pascal made his Park City debut this past year at the 2024 Festival, appearing in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s love letter to Oakland, Freaky Tales. In Gladiator II, he plays Marcus Acacius, a disillusioned Roman general who battles main character Lucius Verus (played by Paul Mescal, who stars in the Sundance-supported film Aftersun).
Before taking on the part of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz in Wicked, Jeff Goldblum has had a storied acting career in Sundance-supported films, including Robert Altman’s comedy Beyond Therapy, which premiered at the ’87 Festival, Miyubi, a 2017 Festival New Frontier VR Experience, and and 2019’s The Mountain, in which he stars with Tye Sheridan.
Actress Connie Nielsen reprises her role as Lucilla in Gladiator II, the mother of the now grown Lucius. Nielsen has appeared in various films that have screened at the Sundance Film Festival over the years such the psychological thriller One Hour Photo alongside Robin Williams in 2002, the family drama Brothers in 2005, and 2016’s war-torn romance Ali & Nino.
Peter Dinklage voices the role of Elphaba’s mentor and history professor, Dr. Dillamond, in Wicked. Dinklage has appeared in several films that have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival over the years, including Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent (2003), which won three awards at the Festival that year: Audience Award: Dramatic, Special Jury Prize for Acting, and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
Fred Hechinger, who plays the villain in his role as the twin Emperor Caracalla in Gladiator II, made his Sundance debut at the most recent Festival in the film Thelma. In addition to being one of the executive producers of the film, he also played the role of Danny, the loveable grandson of Thelma (June Squibb).
Composer John Powell has an impressive filmography, having composed scores for over 70 feature films. Powell is a co-writer of the Wicked movie score, alongside Stephen Schwartz who wrote the iconic music for the stage musical. Powell composed his first ever documentary score for Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which premiered at the 2023 Festival.
In turn, the cinematographers for both Wicked and Gladiator II have worked on films which have premiered at previous Festivals. Alice Brooks, the cinematographer for Wicked, was the cinematographer for Pretty Dead Girl, a musical short which premiered at the 2004 Festival. And the cinematographer for Gladiator II, John Mathieson, was the cinematographer for two Sundance Films: Trauma, which screened at the 2004 Festival, and Twin Town, which screened at the 1997 Festival.
So, whether you end up grabbing tickets to the wonderful world of Oz or the Roman Empire, or both, know that before the journey down the yellow brick road and the path to the Colosseum, many of these artists have magical and powerful Sundance legacies.
