After watching a 50-second interview clip about Fiyeroâs blue contact lenses, I think I accidentally figured out why Jonathan Bailey was cast in the role.
What surprised me wasnât the contacts themselves.
The interviewer asked about the blue eyes, and I expected Jonathan to talk about appearance â how he looked, how different he felt, whether he liked the result.
Instead, he immediately started talking about vision.
He said the lenses restricted his sight. He compared it to looking at Jeff Goldblum through a greenhouse window.
In other words, he wasnât talking about how he looked.
He was talking about how the world looked to him.
That immediately reminded me of a line from For Good:
âYouâve got me seeing through different eyes.â
At first I thought this was simply a clever reference to Fiyeroâs blue eyes.
Now Iâm not so sure.
Because Fiyeroâs story isnât really about changing his appearance.
Itâs about changing the way he sees the world.
At the beginning of the story, Fiyero chooses comfort, pleasure, and distraction. He dances through life. He avoids difficult questions.
Then he meets Elphaba.
And suddenly he starts noticing things he never paid attention to before: injustice, power, conformity, the cost of choosing a side.
His world becomes larger.
So I found myself thinking about an interesting contradiction.
Jonathanâs vision became more restricted while wearing the lenses.
Fiyeroâs vision became broader because of Elphaba.
Physically, one sees less.
Emotionally and intellectually, the other sees more.
And then I thought about the ending.
When Fiyero becomes the Scarecrow, he loses almost everything.
His position.
His identity.
Even his human body.
Yet one thing remains.
The perspective he gained through Elphaba.
Thatâs why the blue eyes suddenly feel different to me.
Theyâre not just a visual design choice.
Theyâre a symbol of transformation.
Not âhow he looks.â
But âhow he sees.â
And maybe thatâs why Jonathan Bailey feels so perfect for the role.
In interviews, he often talks about perception, perspective, and meaning rather than appearance or results.
Even when asked about contact lenses, he somehow ends up talking about ways of seeing.
So I started this clip thinking about blue eyes.
I ended it thinking about perspective.
Which, honestly, feels very Wicked.










