7 Iconic Actresses Who Have Played the Wicked Witch of the West

From Margaret Hamilton’s portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West to Idina Menzel and Cynthia Erivo’s renditions of Elphaba, many actresses have brought the infamous Oz character to life in film and theater adaptations over the past century.

The iconic green witch debuted in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the character has become a beloved — and bedeviled — pop culture legend largely due to adaptations including the 1939 Wizard of Oz film, Broadway’s 2003 production of Wicked and the 2024/2025 two-part Wicked film adaptation.

The Wizard of Oz and Hamilton’s depiction of the Wicked Witch of the West are based on Baum’s novel, but Wicked (both stage and screen versions) was adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. While Baum’s original Oz tale focuses on Dorothy’s journey from Kansas to the Emerald City, Wicked tells the story of Elphaba (originally played by Menzel on Broadway and portrayed by Erivo in Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation) and how she became known as the Wicked Witch of the West.

While fans of the Oz universe got to see Erivo bring Elphaba to life on screen in Part 1 of Wicked in November 2024, they’ve had to wait a year for Part 2, Wicked: For Good, to hit theaters. With the film now playing on the big screen, Wicked enthusiasts are gathering once more to see how Erivo depicts the end of Elphaba’s story.

Hamilton, Menzel and Erivo may be best known for the iconic role of the Wicked Witch of the West, but the actresses aren’t alone in bringing the iconic character to life on screen and stage. Here’s everything to know about the most notable Oz adaptations — and the actresses who portrayed the Wicked Witch of the West in each rendition.

Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Margaret Hamilton played the Wicked Witch of the West in the classic 1939 film about Dorothy Gale’s (played by Judy Garland) whirlwind crossing into the Land of Oz.

Baum’s Wicked Witch of the West didn’t have green skin, but the filmmakers who led the charge to bring the character to life in The Wizard of Oz made her green to showcase the then-revolutionary Technicolor picture, according to NPR. Paired with Hamilton’s iconic cackle and famous line, “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too,” the Wicked Witch of the West quickly became a pop culture icon.

Though Hamilton suffered second- and third-degree burns on set due to a scene involving fire gone wrong, Oz expert John Ficke told PEOPLE she loved being a part of the movie and “was very proud of it until the day she died.”

Mabel King in The Wiz (1978)

Starring alongside Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, Mabel King played Evillene, the Broadway musical’s version of the Wicked Witch of the West.

The reimagining follows Dorothy, a schoolteacher in Harlem, who gets caught in a snowstorm chasing her dog Toto and winds up in the Land of Oz. Like the original film, the urban retelling follows her as she joins the ranks of the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion in search of the Wiz, who has the power to send her home.

Idina Menzel in Wicked (2003)

Idina Menzel brought Elphaba to life in the original Wicked adaptation on Broadway in the early 2000s.

The award-winning musical loosely follows Maguire’s novel, telling the story of the unlikely friendship between two witches — outcast Elphaba and popular Glinda — and the way Elphaba’s fight for justice sends the two down different paths.

In June 2022, Menzel spoke to Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek about how bittersweet it felt to see Wicked coming to life again, but without her as Elphaba.

“I’m very excited and I know it’s in great hands and I’ve sent so much love to Cynthia and Ariana and I’m there for them if they need me,” the Frozen star said. “And yes, I’m a little sad that I’m just older and can’t play the role, you know? And that’s the honest truth.”

Menzel added, “It’s the aging and the proprietorship of the role and what it means to me and how it changed my life. I just love it, and I miss her, I guess, is what I’m trying to say.”

The actress and her Broadway costar Kristin Chenoweth (who played Glinda onstage) later made a cameo in Wicked: Part 1.

Miss Piggy in The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (2005)

In Disney’s 2005 film The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, Miss Piggy played both the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

Alongside the beloved Muppet characters, the adaptation starred Ashanti as Dorothy, Jeffrey Tambor as the Wizard, David Alan Grier as Uncle Henry and Queen Latifah as Auntie Em. The plot is largely the same as the original Wizard of Oz film, but with a twist: Dorothy yearns to be a singer and sets out on a quest to convince the Wizard to make her a star.

Mila Kunis in Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Mila Kunis played Theodora, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, in Oz the Great and Powerful.

The movie follows Oscar Diggs (portrayed by James Franco), an amateur circus musician from Kansas who’s transported to the Land of Oz. Convinced he’s hit the jackpot after stumbling into a realm expecting a foretold great and powerful wizard, Oscar is put to the test by three witches who aren’t convinced he’s up to the challenge.

During a 2013 press junket, Kunis spoke about the intimidation she felt in taking on Hamilton’s iconic character and her desire to do the role justice.

“I’d be lying if I told you that it wasn’t incredibly frightening … She was phenomenal and did create such an iconic character for going on eighty years now. I wasn’t gonna touch it,” the That ‘70s Show alum said, per Too Fab.

“I didn’t want to ruin it and I didn’t want to re-create it and I didn’t want to re-interpret it. And so in order for me to wrap my head around it, I had to make sense of her origin,” Kunis added.

Mary J. Blige in The Wiz Live! (2015)

Mary J. Blige joined a star-studded ensemble cast for the NBC remake of The Wiz Live!, in which she brought Evillene to life once again.

The singer was joined by Uzo Aduba as Glinda, NE-YO as the Tin Man and Amber Riley as Addapearle. Latifah and Grier also returned for the production, though not in their original roles as Auntie Em and Uncle Henry — the rapper played the Wiz and the actor played the Cowardly Lion in the 2015 iteration.

During an interview with Essence ahead of the television release, Blige teased how she approached the role with respect for Hamilton’s original Wicked Witch of the West, while also making the character her own. “I didn’t take it away from the traditional way,” she said. “But I just did a little ‘Mary’ on it.”

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked (2024) and Wicked: For Good (2025)

Menzel passed the torch to Erivo in 2024, with the latter actress portraying Elphaba in the two-part Wicked musical film adaptation.

During an April 2025 Canva Create event in Los Angeles, Erivo spoke about initially being unsure of how far she could push the boundaries of Elphaba’s character and being pleasantly surprised at the unique depth she was able to bring to the role.

“I really didn’t know how far I could go with her and that surprised me, because it sort of already has a bible of how to play her,” she explained. “And I think once I discovered that, oh, actually, maybe there’s, there’s a little more than I might be able to influence to play her with. Then it sort of, the world opened up a little bit more.”

Alongside Erivo, the cast of Wicked and Wicked: For Good includes Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible.