Bowen Yang and his ‘SNL’ costars were ‘in shambles’ watching ‘Wicked’

Bowen Yang watched the final cut of Wicked with some of his Saturday Night Live costars — and the movie left them all a blubbering mess.

The comedian, who plays Pfannee in the new big-screen musical, has revealed that he saw the film for the very first time with his SNL castmates at a private screening around the time Ariana Grande hosted the show in October. “All of us were in shambles by the end,” Yang told PEOPLE. “Sarah Sherman was sobbing, and she was like, ‘I didn’t expect to love it this much.'”

He continued, “It will get you. It flattens every demographic. Everyone gets bowled over no matter what they’re going into it with, and I’ve never been a part of something like that. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie … have this universal impact.”

Though Yang said the experience was “so special,” he initially didn’t want to see the movie with his TV colleagues. “I was so adamant about not going [to the screening], because I was like, ‘I think I need to see this for the first time with other friends that aren’t professionally involved, and I just need to have a pure experience,'” he explained.

However, Yang reconsidered when he remembered how Wicked and SNL have been connected for him for 20 years. “My first trip to New York when I was 13, Wicked had just come out, but I begged my parents to go to the Gershwin just so I could touch the glass and look inside the lobby. We couldn’t afford tickets, but I just wanted to feel it in my hand, just look at the signs.”

That moment wasn’t the only piece of foreshadowing on the trip. “That same day, we went to 30 Rock at NBC and did the studio tour, and I sat in the seats at SNL,” Bowen said. “So, I was like, ‘If those two things happened on the same day, I need them to intersect just one more time.'”

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The two projects crossed paths again on SNL last week, when host and musical guest Charli XCX, Yang, and numerous other cast members impersonated a number of celebrities auditioning for various Wicked roles. Yang played Fran Lebowitz and, at another point, Charli XCX (alongside the musician herself as she delivered her impression of her frequent collaborator Troye Sivan) in the pre-taped sketch.

SNL also poked fun at Wicked during Grande’s hosting stint. In her monologue, the pop star, who plays Glinda in the movie, joked, “I’m not gonna talk about Wicked,” only to be interrupted by Yang wearing her character’s outfit. “Didn’t anybody tell you? We cut the Wicked sketch!” she said.

“Oh — that’s okay, I didn’t wanna do it anyway,” Yang responded unconvincingly.

Wicked is now playing in theaters. Saturday Night Live returns Dec. 7 with host Paul Mescal and musical guest Shaboozey.