Diana Ross "insisted" on doing it.

Would not casting her have changed anything, or was it doomed with or without Ross.

you'd think he would have jumped at the offer, even without Ross

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did the screenplay say it was supposed to be a 40 yr old woman (or however old she was)? She didn't pass for 25 either. I don't think casting is done based on how dark/gritty the landscape is. It worked on Broadway with a a young lead. Was the Broadway play dark and gritty too?

Nobody cares about a link with a bunch of lies Trashing Diana Ross and how she became Dorothy in THE WIZ.

That link is bogus because NOBODY EVER asked Stephanie Nor signed her to the role in the film, nor even ASKED her to be a part of it. So ALREADY I laughed when I read the first part because those are rumors and LIES that have gone around for years...

How about you look at this link were Stephanie says from HER OWN MOUTH that THEY NEVER WANTED TO SEE HER. Which means she was never promised or probably even ASKED to be a part of it.

Then come back and post how it feels to hear the TRUTH form the horses mouth instead of a bunch of LIES regarding Diana getting casted in THE WIZ from a bunch of stupid *beep*

http://www.nola.com/essencefest/index.ssf/2011/06/stephanie_mills_is_on_the_come.html

Tell me: was she good in MAHOGANY? (haven't seen it) If the answer is no, could it be that LADY was a fluke, and she's not a good actress?

TMC-4:

Mahogany would have been a better film if certain parts weren't maniacally over the top (I preferred the scenes with folks in the ghetto, and it had a great theme song "Do You Know Where You're Going To" which was a hit,I believe) but it was good for what it was, and Ross was still pretty good in it (she definitely looked like she was having fun, too, which made all the difference.) But its a shame she never did more films---there are actors with far more flops on their resumes than hers that are still working today. That's why I've never understood why only one flop ruined her career,unlike a lot of other actors.

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/18281685-flush-your-acting-career-down-the-toilet!

Diana Ross. After a stellar debut in "Lady Sings The Blues," and an entertaining performance in "Mahogany," she chose to force herself into the role of Dorothy in "The Wiz," which she had NO business portraying. She got the role after much begging and convincing to the producing movie studio, and a very reluctant Berry Gordy. The part was revised from a teenaged Kansas farmgirl to a thirty-something year old Harlem teacher, with additional script modifications to explain why a middle-aged women needed The Wiz experience to "find herself."

Well, the movie was a critical and commercial failure, mainly due to the miscasting of Diana Ross, the reworking of the script to accommodate her now-adult character, and the inability to transfer the magic of a phenomenal Broadway show to the big screen.

"The Wiz" was the last theatrical movie Diana Ross ever starred in. She did two TV movies afterwards. But her acting career was already flushed away for having bulldozed her way into a movie role that she didn’t deserve, and ruining the magic of the story by her appearance.

—Mary Wilson

reply 86 5 hours ago