Musical theatre legend Lin-Manuel Miranda has spoken out about rumours he was turned down for a cameo in the Wicked movie.

Lin-Manuel previously worked with Wicked director Jon M Chu on the film adaptation of his musical In The Heights, which came out in 2021.

During the audio commentary for the Oscar-nominated film last month, Jon claimed that the Hamilton creator had been eyeing a small role in the movie, only to have to be turned down in the end.

Asked if this was true during an interview with US talk show host Stephen Colbert, Lin-Manuel claimed the matter had been “blown way out of proportion”, to which the host quipped: “And we’re going to continue to do that right now.”

Lin-Manuel recalled: “As soon as Jon got the gig, I was like, ‘well, if there’s a part for me…’.

“My favourite line in the show is in the opening number [when] this one Munchkin runs out and goes, ’is it true you were her friend?’. Man, I don’t know if you’ve seen a live production of Wicked, but sometimes they really put some sauce on the ball when they deliver that line. So I was like, ‘I really want to do that line, Jon’. And I was not cast.”

Jon previously claimed he went against casting Lin-Manuel in the role as it would have been “too distracting”, which the Tony winner conceded would be the case.

“And the young woman who does it in the movie is great,” he insisted.

While Lin-Manuel’s cameo never got off the ground, the movie did feature a few surprise appearances from key figures related to the original musical, most notably the OG Elphaba and Glinda, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.

A sequel – titled Wicked For Good, in homage to its emotional closing number – is slated for release later this year.