'Wicked: For Good' director Jon M. Chu discusses the importance of identity in his films

“Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu has built his career on turning stories about outsiders into celebrations of belonging.

“Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu has built his career on turning stories about outsiders into celebrations of belonging. But in an interview with “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, the filmmaker opened up about following his own yellow brick road: one marked by rejection and resilience.

“My whole life, I’ve been trying to prove myself, that I can be here, that I can be in this business,” Chu told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “And I think I was always searching for that kind of validation. But through the process of making movies and doing it over — and I had a whole long career before ever doing ‘Wicked’ — I think I got killed many times.”

“Wicked: For Good,” the second chapter in his adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, will hit theaters on Nov. 21. It is loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel — a creative reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz.” The new film is produced by Universal Pictures, part of NBCUniversal.

“Wicked,” which Chu also directed, is the most profitable Broadway film adaptation of all time and was nominated for 10 Oscars, of which it won two.

Chu says he found that lesson of authenticity reflected in his film’s two main characters — Elphaba and Glinda — and in the actors who played them, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.