get the role of “Dorothy,” Stephanie Mills left Motown Records in 1976 (we’re not sure if the film was the reason for her checking out though, but it sort of seems that way on the outside…can’t blame her for that).

Diana guaranteed that Michael Jackson will participate
One of the main reasons Diana was able to get the role was because she promised the Universal Pictures exec, Rob Cohen, that if he gave the role to her, Michael would definitely be a part of the film…but without her, there would be NO Michael. Of course that was like music to Cohen’s ears, so he jumped all over that opportunity. This was Michael’s first feature film.

Berry Gordy absolutely did NOT want Michael Jackson in The Wiz
In 1975, Gordy and The Jackson 5 were in the middle of a legal battle. Gordy was suing The Jackson 5 for breach of contract at the time that the shooting of the film was taking place. That’s why some say he was even more adamant about not giving Diana the role because he knew she was going to try to get MJ in the film. It’s worth noting that Berry and Michael eventually became extremely close, all the way up until MJ’s death.

The original director quit after learning Diana, and not Stephanie Mills, would be playing Dorothy
After the original film director, John Badham, learned that Ross got the part of “Dorothy,” he decided not to direct the film, and Cohen replaced him with Lena Horne’s then son-in-law, director Sidney Lumet. John Badham recalled telling Cohen that he thought Ross was “a wonderful singer. She’s a terrific actress and a great dancer, but she’s not this character. She’s not the little six-year-old girl Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.”

Diana was changing the script on the fly and many hated that
Diana apparently wasn’t feeling everything that was written in the script, so like the true diva she is, she started changing it up on the fly…LOL. You see, the script was heavily…