‘Wicked’ Director Jon M. Chu Finally Answers the Question: Just How Horny Is “As Long as You’re Mine”?

Just three weeks before Wicked: For Good hits theaters, director Jon M. Chu gathered with friends, family, and assorted guests at Brooklyn's Win Son restaurant to celebrate what is sure to be the blockbuster of the year. The dinner, hosted by Gold House and Open Table, was the perfect way to kick off what is sure to be a grueling press tour. What's better than a family style meal with A-list talent to take the pressure off?

But while attendees—including Conrad Ricamora, Ronny Chieng, and Stephanie Hsu, among others—indulged on a meal of Win Son's finest dishes, Jon was busy hopping from table to table, greeting everyone with Glinda-esque enthusiasm. He shook hands, gushed about the food, and, yes, talked all things Wicked.

Ever since he burst onto the scene with Step Up 2 The Streets in 2008, Jon has worked his way up to becoming one of Hollywood's most bankable and versatile directors. He's made dance movies, action movies, music documentaries—shout out to Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Justin Bieber's Believe—romantic dramedies, and big budget musicals. All of which, he says, he needed to do before tackling Wicked. “I needed to know how to handle the machine, how to handle music, how to handle the camera, how to handle movement, and action. All of those things play into Wicked,” he tells Cosmopolitan as we wait for dessert. “Wicked is not possible without any of those pieces.”

Wicked: For Good is based on Act II of the Broadway musical, but Jon still has some tricks up his sleeve, including two brand new songs. “The [new] songs are fantastic. They don't step on any of the songs that you already love. They're only additive, and they're about moments that were either gonna be a scene or a song,” Jon insists when asked about potential skeptics. “And when [Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen] Schwartz raises his hand and says, ‘That's a song and I know what it is,’ you go with it. And so I'm very excited for people to experience it.”

And in case fans were worried about how Jon would bring the sexiest song of the musical—“As Long As You're Mine”—to life, the director promises that it won't disappoint. “I will leave it up to the audience to decide how horny it is,” he says. “But I will say, when you have Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey and a song that develops into ‘As Long as You're Mine,’ you can't help but be lifted into a new space.” He waits a beat, then adds, “I would say, drink a lot of water before you go into this movie.”

As for what else Jon's got cooking, he assures Cosmo that he's still working on the Crazy Rich Asians television show, which will see the return of co-screenwriter Adele Lim, who famously left the sequel after asking for equal pay. “I think it's going to be everything that people want,” he teases, adding that he hopes more will be revealed soon.

Darren Criss, Jon M. Chu, Melissa King, Conrad Ricamora, Junia Lin Jonsdottir, Laufey, Stephanie Hsu

Of course, Crazy Rich Asians is partly responsible for this very dinner. The film, a rare Hollywood movie made by Asians, for Asians, made history at the box office and was big for both Jon and Gold House, an organization whose mission is to bring the AAPI community together through culture. But that kind of success for a director can be both a blessing and a curse, especially if you're part of a minority group sorely lacking representation in Hollywood.

But Jon isn't worried about being pigeon-holed as an “Asian American director”—at least, not anymore. “I let that go a long time ago. I think that was holding me back,” he says. “I'm gonna be whoever I fucking want to be. They can try to say anything, but I get to make whatever I want to make. No one's forcing me to do anything.” He adds, “It's not about convincing people who you are, it's just about doing who you are, and everyone will come into your world and buy in.”

Given how massive Wicked: For Good is sure to be when it hits theaters November 21, it's clear to see that we have.