As a longtime Wicked fan, Ariana Grande knew she had some big slippers to fill with her casting as Galinda Upland.
While discussing the audition process for Jon M. Chu‘s feature adaptation of the Broadway musical, the 2x Grammy winner opened up about the pressure to get the character right and the “challenge” of breaking out of her pop star box.
“This is something I loved so much about auditioning for Wicked,” explained Grande on the Sentimental Men podcast. “It has to be earned. Anything on this scale, being a part of anything, it’s not just given because they know for one thing. So, it’s fun to kind of have the challenge of reframing people’s perception and doing the work to earn your way back into the other spaces.”
Having done musical theater since 8 years old, and having long been a fan of the Tony-winning musical, Grande understood fans would have high expectations of her in the role.
“I felt a little bit of the initial nervousness or the sort of preconceived notions about what I might be able to deliver or not deliver, or why I would be wrong or whatever,” she explained, noting that fans haven’t seen the training she underwent ahead of the audition.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked.
Universal Pictures/Everett Collection
“Going off of ‘Side to Side’, I probably would’ve said the same thing,” said Grande of her critics. “I probably would’ve said, ‘Why the f—? Kill me. I’ve waited 20 years for this. Kill me.’ I would’ve said that — as a fan from the outside knowing of only ‘7 Rings’, probably — I’d say, ‘Well, that’s bull—’ So, you know, I get it.”
Based on the smash Broadway musical, Wicked follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Grande) as they first meet at Shiz University and share a life-changing encounter with the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
Chu was tapped to direct the Universal adaptation back in 2021. The first Wicked installment premieres Nov. 22, 2024, with the second following on Nov. 21, 2025.