NEED TO KNOW
Last year, Jon M. Chu skipped a Wicked premiere to attend the birth of his fifth child. This year, she hit the red carpet with him!
On Monday, Nov. 17, the Wicked director, 46, attended the New York City premiere of Wicked: For Good with his family of seven, including he and wife Kristin Hodge’s latest addition, 1-year-old daughter Stevie Sky — and it was a full-circle moment, to say the least.
Just around one year ago, Chu missed the Los Angeles premiere of the first Wicked film to be present for the little one’s birth.
Chu and Hodge brought not only Stevie to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for the premiere, but also their other four children — Willow, 8, Ruby, 4, Jonathan Heights, 5, and Iggy, 2 — three of whom were born during the making of Wicked.
The couple’s daughters wore pink tulle dresses — and one carried a sparkling staff — in a nod to Wicked character Glinda (Ariana Grande) while their sons wore green in honor of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). The director, meanwhile, kept things more neutral in a gray suit and black shirt. His wife also wore black, but added a nod to the Good Witch with a pair of pale pink shoes.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Last November, Chu revealed his reason for skipping the star-studded L.A. event in an Instagram Stories post. In a message over a photo of a “Defy Gravity” friendship bracelet sitting on a hospital table, he began, “This movie has always moved in mysterious ways.”
“Today is a day I’ve been dreaming about for a long time. Two babies (a movie and a little girl) all at one time and I truly couldn’t be happier,” he continued before revealing that he “won’t be able to” attend the Nov. 9 premiere due to a “change of plans” at 4 a.m.
“Instead my wife and I will be welcoming our 5th child into our family,” he wrote before jokingly adding that “no,” the couple “will not be naming her Galphaba” in a nod to Grande and Erivo’s Wicked characters.
Chu wrapped up his message by sending “all the love to our insanely talented cast and crew tonight,” and sharing a sweet message about his fifth child and Wicked cast members Grande, Erivo, Michelle Yeoh and Marissa Bode.
AFF-USA/Shutterstock
“They deserve it and send a little extra welcome to my little girl bursting her bubble and coming into our world any moment now,” he added. “If she can even have a fraction of the bravery that my wife, @cynthiaerivo @arianagrande @michelleyeoh_official or @marissa_edob has then she too will defy gravity one day.”
In a separate Instagram Stories post, Chu also cracked a joke about his premiere look, which would go unworn, writing: “Should I just wear the suit for the birth?”
Days later, while appearing on Today, the director revealed that he watched the L.A. premiere via livestream during his baby daughter’s birth.
“I was watching the premiere streaming while the baby’s coming out,” he said at the time. “The baby was born while the movie was playing at the premiere, like literally.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Wicked: For Good premieres in theaters on Friday, Nov. 21.
