Wisconsin native makes history for her role in ‘Wicked’ 

When Marissa Bode was 12-years-old, her mom surprised her with tickets to see “Wicked” at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. 

It was the first time she had ever seen a person in a wheelchair performing in a play or musical, as Nessarose is in a wheelchair during the performance. 

Just one year before that experience, Bode was in a car crash that left her paralyzed from the waist down. 

“I was in a wheelchair at that time, which I think is why it was so important and pivotal for me to see … for the first time really, a character, in a wheelchair at all, on stage,” Bode said in an interview with WPR. 

Around 10 years later, she auditioned for the part of Nessarose in the film adaptation of “Wicked.” She got the part, and in doing so, became the first actor who uses a wheelchair to play the character. 

Bode, who was born and raised in Mazomanie, has been acting since she was 8 years old. She’s appeared in several plays and musicals. She’s also been a fan of “The Wizard of Oz” since she was 5 years old. 

The 24-year-old moved to Los Angeles to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She auditioned for the part of Nessarose Thropp, Elphaba’s sister, around two years ago. When she got the call that she got the part, she said she was in “pure shock.”

“I’ve always had such love for ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Wicked’ itself, and I knew it was something that I wanted to, at the bare minimum, try, and I guess the rest is history,” Bode said.

This is the Wisconsin native’s first big role — she appears in the movie alongside actors like Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jeff Goldblum. 

“And of course this was my dream, and I had come out to California to just hope something like this would happen, but for it to actually happen, it still feels genuinely so surreal,” Bode said. 

The film has already brought in over $275 million at the domestic box office, according to a Collider report. It’s also made the most money out of any movie based on a Broadway musical.

But Bode has used her role to show that anything is possible. In a video she posted to TikTok, she called out people being rude and hateful to the character’s disability. 

“I’ve received a number of messages from several disabled people saying just, ‘Thank you, because I was thinking of just not continuing with the arts or with theater, and you helped show me that this is a space for me,’” Bode said.

Bode said “making spaces accessible” and listening to more “disabled stories” is important for her as well.

“So I think just keeping disabled people in mind, and making sure that you’re inclusive in any way possible is really important,” Bode said. 

Hometown hero 

Marissa’s dad Sean Bode appeared in a production of “The Wizard of Oz” with his daughter before she was in the car crash. Marissa Bode was 10 years old at the time and was cast as a Munchkin.  

After the car crash, Sean Bode said Marissa had to go through physical therapy and counseling.

“Even despite that, Marissa still pursued acting,” Sean Bode said.

The summer after the accident, she auditioned for a part in “Annie.”

“It was kind of like trying to get back into what we love, and what she likes to do,” Sean Bode said.

Sean Bode saw the final version of “Wicked” when it premiered in Los Angeles. Watching his daughter on the silver screen was “just like magic,” he said.

Aniela Lemanski Haas was Bode’s choir and band teacher when she attended Wisconsin Heights High School.

“I just remember she was just really spunky,” Lemanski Haas said. 

Lemanski Haas directed the four musicals Marissa Bode was in in high school — “The Sound of Music,” “Mary Poppins,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and “White Christmas.”

After high school, she kept up with Bode. When she learned she would be in the movie, she said her reaction was “sheer amazement.” 

“And I just remember messaging back and forth with her being like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so amazing,’” she said.

Lemanski Haas said “Wicked” was also a huge part of her life ever since she saw it several years ago. But nothing compares to seeing her former student in the film adaptation. She’s seen the movie in theaters three times so far, including on opening night. 

“Just seeing her come onto the screen, I mean, it’s just unreal,” Lemanski Haas said. 

“I held it all together until she started singing,” she added. “But then the moment that she started singing, like I lost it, because it’s … the voice that I know, and it was just, it was beautiful.”

Lemanski Haas helped organize a watch party days after the movie was released at Bottom Theater in Prairie Du Sac. Over 100 people came to the viewing and they held a dinner after the movie.

All of her fans, including her dad and Lemanski Haas will have another chance to see Bode in “Wicked: Part 2.”