‘Popular’: This ‘Wicked’ song could win Ariana Grande an Oscar

When Ariana Grande learned she was to play Glinda in the movie “Wicked,” she made a vow.

“I love her so much,” she told director Jon M. Chu through tears on a video call in 2021. “I’m gonna take such good care of her.”

Grande made good on that promise. But where co-star Cynthia Erivo seems likely to attract awards buzz for the deeply emotional “Defying Gravity,” Grande’s chops, comedic and musical, are most evident in “Popular.” What’s been performed for decades onstage with just two beds has been supersized for the screen, transformed into an extremely technical, satisfyingly theatrical, seven-minute set piece, with Grande sliding across the floor, dancing on a banister and swinging from a chandelier — all while singing live. By the end of this expertly whimsical display, Elphaba has become unequivocally drawn to Glinda, as has the audience.

While she’s occasionally showcased her comedy chops as host of “Saturday Night Live” or impersonating celebrities on late-night shows, Grande’s performance as Glinda hearkens back to the leading ladies of Hollywood’s Golden Age musical era — possibly to the tune of an Oscar nomination.

The team behind the number spoke to The Times about how the onscreen rendition of “Popular” came together, from the creative bond it forged between Erivo and Grande to the subtle nod to the originator of Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth.

Jon M. Chu (director): The pressure was on for “Popular.” That’s the one everyone’s watching and thinking, “All right, Ari, let’s see what you got.”

You could tell in her audition that she had Glinda instinctively in her, maybe not yet the Glinda you see in the movie. I thought I might have to guide her a little bit, but then, on the first day of rehearsals, she arrived as Glinda. She walked differently, her voice was different. I felt like I had met Glinda in real life, and that the show was based off of this girl! She’s never led a movie before — how can a person this green come into this and be that consistent and so involved?

Alice Brooks (cinematographer): It was phenomenal to see her transform. Arriving in London for 18 weeks of prep, she had her brown hair and her Ariana Grande look. Week after week, it just slowly changed.

Christopher Scott (choreographer): All her leaning — that was definitely not choreographed, she found that. I remember seeing it develop. She’s very intuitive, she’s constantly building this character, practicing it and feeling the room, and if we’re laughing, she’s like, “Noted.”

Chu: The first thing we shot was the new dorm room scene where she and Elphaba move in. Her delight when she says, “I so enjoy air,” in this transatlantic way — we all looked at each other like, she’s a golden-age movie star, this is crazy! And then she just leaned into it.

Winnie Holzman (show’s book writer and film co-writer): In early versions of the show, I wrote dialogue scenes of Glinda presenting Elphaba to her friends after a makeover. Like a moment out of “Clueless” of, “Here she is, come on out!” That idea ended up being crystallized into a song, and Stephen [Schwartz] brought it to a whole other level.

Stephen Schwartz (composer-lyricist): In the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, let’s refresh the rhythm. Let’s, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit. Ariana said, “Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.”

Brooks: “Popular” is the first song we shot. The challenge was that we wanted this huge, grand number, but we’re in this very tight, intimate dorm room — our smallest set by far. One night, I woke up suddenly and thought, the sun needs to always rise for Glinda and set for Elphaba. So “Defying Gravity” is one long sunset, and “Popular” is one long sunrise. We put a skylight in the dorm’s dome ceiling so the sun could be our spotlight.

Paul Tazewell (costume designer): We see them in their nightwear for “What Is This Feeling?” but “Popular” is a different kind of moment, much lighter and more fun. I designed this pink, dotted peignoir with spiraling circles out of ruffles — a reference to what Glinda wears in the stage musical — with a soft teddy underneath and custom embroidered shoes with toes that turn up just slightly. It’s Glinda’s version of Hollywood glamour, it’s setting her up to be cute and flirty and frivolous and playful in the song.

Brooks: When they both lie down and look at each other, Ariana looks right into camera and Cynthia looks right back into camera at her. We play with breaking the fourth wall a lot in this movie, moments where they just spike the lens and it connects them in a way that’s shocking. I don’t think we really understood how effective it is until it got edited together.

Chu: The chandelier was a huge feat. She’s jumping very high onto that to spin around, and she almost kicked a stunt guy in the face at one point. We had to have an actual human being up on the top for safety reasons, otherwise she’d have to be harnessed and we’d have to cut that whole thing up [in post-production].

Scott: That shot of her little pitter patter with her feet — I remember having her find how she was going to walk in that space, and she just did the foot one time, and we’re like, “Perfect, keep it.” That was the spirit of it, we’d find things in the room and then we’d roll with it.

Brooks: [The first time she sings “You will be … popular”] is a dolly push with these perfect stops; we were able to do dolly shots and crane shots by temporarily removing parts of the set. Otherwise, our Steadicam operator Karsten Jacobsen has an incredible dance background; he started his career as a production assistant on a dance competition show, and when their Steadicam operator got hurt, they’re like “Put this rig on!” I had him learn all the choreography and rehearse with Ariana on our plywood mock-up set so that the camera could be completely choreographed too.

Chu: I first had a version where Glinda and Elphaba go into her closet and get lost in this pink world where she turns a corner, and then another corner and another — like, how f— big is this closet? But [producer] Marc [Platt] said, “I don’t know if we should go fantasy like that. Remember, Glinda doesn’t have magic, so it’s confusing.”

Okay, what if all the bags we’ve been seeing this whole time were actually her closet, and you just didn’t know it yet? So then it became an extremely huge technical feat to make this closet come to life — grown men in small spaces pulling doors and making things open at the right time, gadgets that unfold remotely with batteries and cords. That mirror is a very heavy piece of machinery, because it has to bend backwards so she can walk on it. That was always scary; even in rehearsals, I was always hesitant. If she steps on those lights, she cuts her foot.

Scott: That great little shoulder move in the mirror they do together — you wouldn’t think to put any kind of duo choreography in this, it’s not a duet in that sense. But Ari and Cynthia just did it together and said to me, “This is the moment, watch this.” I think it came from them being so connected as artists.

Chu: Cynthia was like, “I don’t want to just sit here and stare at her.” If that scene at the Ozdust changed everything, and in the next scene, Elphaba tells Glinda her story, then “Popular” is almost a cementing of their friendship. So when Cynthia does the little kick right after Ari, they’re playing, they’re bonding. Of course, you have big, big moments in this number, but it’s the little things that make you feel like these characters are really becoming friends.

Scott: This whole “communicators” [motion where Grande raises her arms], that physicality was her paying homage to Kristin Chenoweth in a way. I was so grateful for that, to have an actor who has that much love and care for not just the character she’s playing, but the whole “Wicked” legacy.

Chu: Ari really owned the space — every time she moved, she knew what her intention was, she lived in that physicality, jumping on the banister and kicking up her leg. And sliding on the floor around Cynthia felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Tazewell: I think that that’s what’s so irreverent about it. You’ve got this beautiful, delicate thing that’s usually worn by somebody who’s trying to be as glamorous as possible, and then she decides that she’s gonna crawl on the floor or hang from the chandelier.

Brooks: We shot that wand joke for five hours. Jon wanted her to have absolutely every moment to be funny, and she just kept getting funnier and funnier. And then [editor] Myron [Kerstein] gets the footage, and he’s like, “How am I supposed to edit this when it’s all amazing?” I think he had like 17 different versions of how it was gonna go.

Scott: I never laughed harder in my life. Rehearsing with her, every day was hysterical. You look up and everyone’s laughing so hard and Ari’s makeup is running down her face because she’s been crying laughing. I swear it felt like I was working with the modern-day Lucille Ball. And I know we hear a lot, but that’s what it felt like. Just how clever and smart she is, and how her comedy is so funny because it’s thoughtful.

Brooks: Jon wanted this movie to have an old Hollywood feel; he wanted it to feel timeless and elegant and romantic. And my goal was that it would be the greatest love story ever told between these two best friends. So this moment in the mirror — when Glinda tells Elphaba she’s beautiful, and then she sees herself as beautiful for the first time — is the height of that connection.

Schwartz: They were cast individually, but what luck that those two women have such chemistry together. Without that, they would individually have been great, but the emotion in the movie wouldn’t quite have been there.

Brooks: It was a challenge to light them together because one woman is green and in black for most of the movie, and the other has blond hair and in light pinks. And I didn’t want to rely on color corrections separating them, I really wanted it all to be in camera, with all the details of their costumes and makeup too. It took a long time to figure it out [with our other departments] so that they could both be in the same frame and both look equally as gorgeous.

Schwartz: I had this idea for a new vocal ending. Ariana was a little hesitant about it, but I told her that if I had thought of it for the original show, this is how it would have been. Once she was reassured that this new bit of music was coming out of character, she was on board.

Chu: We still didn’t think we were going to include it, but then we saw [production designer] Nathan Crowley’s beautiful hallway and we’re like, this is the home run hit. Then we told Ari, “You’re going to dance and we’re not going to cut. You’re going to be completely out there, vulnerable, for everybody to see.”

Scott: I knew she had a musical theater background, plus what she’s been doing in the pop world, so I really didn’t hold back with any movement because I knew she was fully capable. But that high kick in the hallway — you can’t know somebody can do that until they do it. She was messing around and freestyling, and then she practically kicked her face. I’m like, “Are you kidding me? You’ve been holding out on me!” We immediately put it in.

Holzman: It really feels like a girl just having fun. I think part of it is how much this character has meant to her, and this feeling that it’s not just another job, it’s not just a movie. This is a moment when she’s stepping into her destiny.

Marc Platt (producer): She was crying after we finished filming it because she was so happy. If you look closely when she’s dancing around that hallway, you can really see the genuine joy on her face and it’s glorious. Really, it’s perfect.