The Cast - CHICAGO SCI-FI

etterment of society, the betterment of the people and the betterment of the world. She is also
in so much denial of the bad that she doesn’t even think it exists.
“There’s a prophecy that Glinda’s father predicted on his deathbed saying that this man would
come and save the Land of Oz,” the actress details further about her character. “She sees this
balloon drop from the sky and on the balloon it says ‘The Great and Powerful Oz’. Without a
doubt in her mind, she believes that this is the great and powerful wizard that is coming to save
the Land of Oz from the Wicked Witch.”
“When first writing the character of Theodora, I wanted her to be between Glinda and Evanora
while being pulled by both sides,” screenwriter Kapner relates. “When we first meet her, she
loves her older sister, but she is also fond of goodness, which Glinda represents.
“Theodora is someone who’s innocent in a way,” Kapner continues in describing the character
and how he developed her backstory that is not in the Baum books. “There is a line where she
says ‘no one’s ever asked me to dance before.’ She is very innocent and protected in a lot of
ways.”
“Theodora’s my younger sister who’s good, but also has a streak of wickedness in her because
she’s my sister,” Weisz chimes in about the dynamic of the character. “I try to seduce her over
to the dark side through different events, which I manipulate because I need her on my side. If
I can get Theodora on my side, it would be two against one and I could then beat Glinda, the
Good Witch.”
In choosing Kunis for the signature role, Raimi explains that he saw her in two very different
films that cemented his decision to cast her in the role of Theodora. “I saw Mila Kunis in
‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and she was very sweet. She’s adorable and really funny with a
great sense of humor. I knew when I saw that picture that she was a great actress who could
play the innocent side of Theodora. When I saw the brilliant movie ‘Black Swan,’ I also saw the
darker side of her, a streak of ‘witchiness’ that represented the other side of what I needed for
the portrayal of Theodora. So, between those two performances, she showed me that she had
everything that she needed for this part.”
Kunis admits that she had some trepidation when she was approached about the role. “I mean
it was Sam Raimi first and ‘Oz The Great and Powerful’ in the same sentence. It wasn’t so
much intriguing as it was frightening to me, and that’s the truth.”
Despite her reservations, Kunis decided to take a meeting with director Sam Raimi. “I went to
meet Sam and what was supposed to be a thirty-minute meet ended up being like four hours
long. We broke down the character and the script and grounded everything in reality, which
was incredibly comforting to me.”
Kunis adds, “What I think intrigued me about it was the unknown. I’ve never done anything
remotely close to this. In saying that, you have to challenge yourself, and I felt safe in the