Hi I’m Ariana Grande hi I’m cyia Aro and you’re listening to the sentimental men podcast visit bpn FM to discover more Ariana Grande thank you so much for joining us on Sentimental Man thank you for having me I’m so glad that we um can do this and you know we didn’t coordinate or anything I know it’s just we just happen to wear but I’m jealous of the pink sh swe especially me jealous thank you so much i’ll see what I can do I thought they made like I thought they were doing pink ones and green ones and people were just getting like look at
The draw pink or green but then no one else had them those are limited edition I thought that was the plan and then I was wrong H what your a great I can’t believe you’re here right now cannot thank you enough for joining thank you for having me I’m honored I’m I’m such a fan and I love your show thank you so we start every interview with how did Wicked the musical enter your life as a normal person what is your first touch point with the show Wicked the musical entered My Life um when I was 10 I got to see the original Broadway cast I was
Very very very fortunate to see them and um I it was during the Broadway cares Equity fights AIDS when they do the um the auctions after the show and I kept bidding and my mom was like that’s enough oh my God but they were they were auctioning off a backstage tour and um we and had you known about Wicked prior or was it just a random thing that your mom bought take no it was just the show that everyone was talking about and we love the Wizard of Oz and I love Judy Garland and i’ve always been a huge Wizard of Oz person so you know the
Untold story of The Witches of O we were like count us in and um I don’t think we had any idea what we were in for I knew we were all just kind of life before and after Wicked you know like um there are so few things that I feel that way about but it’s like you know when art can shake you like that I just oh my God I’m so sorry you to sorry that that might happen a lot that’s just that might happen a lot a lot so let’s just get I’m so sorry I think they’re okay that’s the whole story I mean really it just moved
Us so much and I remember getting the soundtrack and learning all the words within the first week of having it I mean I loved it so much I I got to oh yeah again we did the auction and we got to go backstage and meet everyone and um I remember gave me a little green bracelet and um just being so excited to meet everyone and Kristen was just over the toop kind and generous she gave me a little wand which feels so full circle and insane and a body wash that had with had glitter in and she said it was magical and now I really believe that it
Was um wow and it was it was just a really beautiful experience and I have loved it and turned to it for Comfort ever since like the soundtrack has always been such a safe space for me and i’ve always listened to it if I was like nervous about something or um to warm up you know it’s funny cuz I started in musical theater and pop music sort of I think my dogs are going to howl and sing a long note because they’re sirens and they might react to that so just are Sirens no no no they’re they’re they’re mine I’m sorry that I came with so
Many no it’s we allowed to we’re allowed to what was I saying oh yes um but yeah I don’t know musical theater and wicked in particular were always kind of my most gring and comforting things that I would turn to what was your first musical love growing up a musical theater girly what kind of like gave you the bug I don’t even I mean I I don’t know I mean maybe Wizard of Oz oh my myin I’m so sorry I think I should should I let him out really quickly and then come right back I’m really sorry I’m so sorry this is a
Fulltime this is my full-time life this is my full-time job I’m so sorry I work for okay good yeah absolutely you there hold on I’m so sorry okay to lose you too absolutely nothing’s there I’m coming back I’m so sorry I’m so sorry H it’s okay hi so if uh you’re saying Broadway’s kind of like your first love your first or musicals are kind of your first touch point and then as pop music kind of entered your life what was that conversation like internally between like well here’s this pop music career that is happening how
Does that interact with my Broadway dreams cuz like when you’re in 13 are you now thinking okay I’m going to grow up and be a Broadway Diva this is my path or was there other options on the table well I had always hoped to do a little bit of both and um because I I loved writing and I loved singing as well and I loved pop music too but I I never figured it would be come my whole life the way that it did for a for a decade really it was kind of the only the only thing and um that I didn’t see coming I just kind of like I loved
Theater I I loved being on Broadway I loved going to shows and my favorite thing in the world about musical theater was that it also integrated comedy there’s so much comedy and um that’s always been something that has made my heart so happy is comedy it’s one of my favorite things in the world so um I don’t know I think I pictured it being more I think I pictured myself being more of a theater person and like I would make music too and hopefully I would have a little fan base that would be into my albums and do a little bit
Like and I remember like people at the time like were would make fun of me for it and they were like oh like what are you going to do music and like have fans and whatever and I was like I don’t know maybe I I don’t know but it was it was funny cuz yeah i’ve never really talked about it but when I was younger some people actually like lightly bullied me about it and we’re like H you’re always singing like whatever it was just it was a strange interesting thing um but yeah it’s really funny I I don’t think I expected for pop to become the
Only thing for such a long time but I’m very great I’m very grateful for everything of course but it’s funny but I do imagine when your pop career is careering it becomes then difficult to find your way to the stage do you feel like you kind of have to segment it out when you’re in the bag of either Lane well yeah um just because it’s so strange like to me i’ve been doing what i’ve been doing since I’m 8 years old and I know what I love to do and can do and you know being a part of shows and auditioning and you know that’s such a
Happy fun thing in my in my youth in my life but it’s funny because people need to and this is something that I I loved about auditioning so much for for Wicked was that like it has to be earned anything as you know on this scale being a part of anything I think isn’t it’s not just like given because they know you for one thing so it’s fun to kind of have the challenge of reframing people’s perception and kind of like doing the work to earn your way back into the other spaces because it’s not just a no-brainer because I know what happened
One time a long time ago you know I don’t know right right was that the question no not at all it was so long ago well I think that’s interesting though is like what you’re saying about feeling like you want to earn your way back into these other spaces because I think it would probably be easy for you in the position that you’re in to just be like I would like to be in a Broadway show who will have me you know but it’s like the fact that you want to earn that and you want to be it means to be valid you don’t want to just walk in because you
Ariana a grande well I feel I mean I that’s for that’s so ridiculous but no I I I really do feel like it’s the opposite I feel like it’s the opposite in a lot of ways and I think well that’s how I see it anyway and it’s funny because people sometimes say that to me they’re like you had audition I’m like [ __ ] yeah I had of course what are you out your gourd it’s it’s wicked and it requires a totally different skill set than people know me for and have ever seen me do anything like and of course it’s wicked that’s the most respectful
Thing you have to do it has to be earned period And I think that’s kind of I think it was the opposite I think it was it can work against me you know in certain in certain ways because you know when when you have this caricaturized Persona that’s out there and people know you very well as this one thing it’s like how you know is this person going to be able to erase that and disappear into a character that we need them to to offer themselves to this greater story you know and uh it’s not it’s not about them this isn’t about me so that’s what
I love and I missed so much about acting though is because with music I feel like I have so much of my own stuff intertwined like my own pain my own stories my own it’s very self aggrandizing and very self whatever and I feel like with acting you get to use those pieces of yourself while honoring something way bigger than you and find new homes for these traumas and these things and these pieces of yourself that you know but also it’s not about you it’s about giving to a character that you get to love and to know and um
That’s a nice that’s a really beautiful I can’t even explain it extraordinary experience it’s like the best thing it’s such a it’s such a gift and a cool thing I’m so grateful I got to do this okay I want to hear all about the movie audition but before we get into it can you just paint a picture you see Wicked on Broadway that first time what did Ariana grand as a wicked fan look like what bootlegs were you watching who were the ladies you were into oh my gosh when I was I mean like at that age I was I had like my curly
Brown hair and a little headband in I went with my family and I just was I adored them I like studied the cast I I just I completely adored them I went home and I googled them all and I was such a fan I remember I had a little ipod and I deleted did everything else on the ipod except like K I was like I don’t need to hear anything else ever again yes that was me ipods help like six songs at that point yeah even if they held more it was not what I wanted and I imagine you saw it multiple times after seeing it that
First time I did I was very lucky my my my mom definitely spoiled me and I got to go see it a few times so that was really cool but I I went um early like I went when it was the original Broadway cast and I didn’t see it again for many years um so that was my it’s so I’m like so lucky it’s such a crazy experience okay so now take us inside the movie audition when was the first time the prospect of auditioning came across your desk okay so the prospect of auditioning came across my desk um actually way before they had even attached
John which is crazy and it was just a murmuring of a something and pre pandemic yeah pre- pandemic um and I remember I was on the sweetener tour and I said to my team I said if this is happening now you we have to figure it out we got to pull the plug on this tour I’m going home I’m getting in voice lessons I’m getting in acting lessons and I’m going to tear this [ __ ] out I need to no you need to move from me right now if this is happening now I’m going home and I’m training I’m getting ready this is all I want and I’m going
It’s done doesn’t matter we’ll figure it out and my team was like well that’s insane no and I was like well yeah and they were like okay so it was and at that point was it for Glenda or alphaba I had an inkling in my heart always that it was going to be Glenda um but I was hearing really mixed things from people who were like oh they want you to maybe read for both or whatever and I was like well I guess that’s because they don’t know my what my voice is maybe can can do and maybe they think vocally I might
Be better suited for Alaba but that’s the fun and that’s like what I think I I think I secretly knew that I could you know was only meant for Glenda um but and that’s you know for a few like different reasons we can talk about later but I just kind of knew that that was what it was um but either way I was going to be open to the conversation and I basically was just like hello let’s talk whatever it is and I I like floated the idea of I about Linda um a few times um and nothing there was nothing it was just like okay we think this is coming
Up and I was like when and then they said in the next couple of years so that was when I kind of became very alert and very uh aware and I that was like kind of around the time that I no in the middle of the pandemic I kind of started working with Nancy Banks my acting coach um but it was just on random stuff just on like monologues and plays and whatever just cuz we wanted to to start using that muscle the instrument yeah using the muscle and like playing around and um then I finally got wind of okay it’s happening for Real uh in
2021 no that’s not true oh no I don’t remember wait my audition no because my first audition was August 13th 2021 yeah 2021 your first real audition yes my first real audition was August 13th 2021 okay and um I yeah but before that when I when I heard that they were going to start seeing people I went just straight into local and acting license every day this is what when I was filming the voice and I was I would basically start my day with my lessons and then I’d go shoot the show and um and at that time what in your head is like okay I need to
Work on this if I’m going to be going in for Wicked I wanted to just basically um strengthen and change my kind of like vocal muscles and how they are cuz I do have a high range but it’s a very different thing you know than what’s required of of of Glenda so I really wanted to train so that I could sound as authentically operatic as possible and um really use those muscles because it’s been a long time um and um of singing one certain way and your vocal cords are just like any other muscle in the body they they
Get used to a certain thing right yeah so I had to kind of dig in and really I wanted to do it every day to train them to behave and so that it was natural and that it was healthy and it sounded really full and warm and how it’s supposed to for Glinda um cuz I had been singing one specific way for such a long time um but yeah I sort of just began really kind of preparing and even just like reading through the Broadway script a whole bunch and um oh my God sorry um perect he might need to come back in but i’ll give it one more second before he
Tells me what he needs um yeah so I began that process and um oh my God I get up here and so you’re doing all of this wa no tell me tell me tell me tell me I said so you’re doing all of this before there’s even like a date on the books to audition you’re just prepping so that you’re ready yeah I just wanted my muscles and my tools to know what they’re doing and be ready to do anything like I had a feeling they were going to make me sing for both roles even though they weren’t actually considering me for both roles I
Had a feeling they were going to have me sing both and they did they had me sing for they had me sing in my first audition no one warns popular wizard n and define gravity um wow so that was a really fun first audition but I came in and I had like my pink thermos and I had my pink thing and it was very obvious what I was campaigning for yeah I was like I’m sure sure whatever you want sure you’re sure you want to hear this whatever you want and more whatever you need i’ll bring coffees whatever you but like no I I we know I’m here for one
Thing specifically hold on I’m going to let my back in and i’ll be right back okay oh no never mind he completely doesn’t want to come in Ariana I do have to say Sor a majority of the glendas we have on this show have the same chaotic energy why it’s my pet oh my god there are something there really is something baked into these roles though there really is there’s something like genetic that comes to that comes to play yeah I’m honored to hear it okay so that first audition tell us more about exactly what you did did
You read any scenes no so the first one was just singing and um I was 45 minutes early for everything for every single time they saw me I was 45 minutes early and I remember like I was blasting I was with um my assistant and I was with my my manager my day-to-day manager Ry and and my sist Diane we were driving around in Burbank just like circling and like blasting one short day and you can ask him like why like that but that was the one that we were like repeat on one short day and um and and John was like outside and he was
Like I didn’t realize that he was outside but he told me later on that like he heard and saw me circling every time forever like he was like she’s crazy and so early why is she so early and why was it one short day because that was the song that is the song that’s the song which I will say in the movie that like opening Coral as the train is coming into the Emerald City made me tear yeah me too the first time we didn’t that wasn’t attached to it until recent that wasn’t like that was we didn’t get to hear that done till
Just now because the last things that they did were the like orchestrations and the the choruses and the that kind of thing so that was a surprise for Cynthia and I too we were like oh my God it’s a lot yeah really beautiful but yeah we’re blasting one short day so then after that first audition what was the call that was like Hey so like we’ve we’ve made the distinction she’s clearly a Glinda then are you coming back in and just focusing on Glinda after going in that day I have to be super clear I said like I said I will sing whatever they
Want but I’m going in for Glinda like I told them I was like this is who I am I I I do I will both for fun if they want that like I don’t care what is of course like I got it I was like girl let’s go um I better those figure it out no but um um no but I it was clear from the start but then the call back was singing again and scenes um from the first and second film uh the second audition had think goodness and it had some scenes in it from the Broadway show nothing from the from the movie script and um and then my
Third time was chemistry read I think I was there for three and a half hours I I wow I read with two different actresses that were amazing and um it was just a long exhausting but like floaty out of body Buzzy so much adrenaline experience and I I I had I had cried so much my lashes were kind of like erect and John was like okay okay um like we really appreciate your time like thank you thank you thank you so so so much I think you can like you know go to the car and and and collect to yourself and have a beautiful rest of your day
Like thank you so much we really appreciate it and I was like okay bye everyone and I left my lashes on the mirror because I was just like I was like well bye That’s all folks i’ officially i’ve officially left everything else I had to give in this room so Blood Sweat and lashes so don’t forget about it I’m leave my lashes on the P don’t forget me no but it was um yeah it was it was really special and beautiful and I remember even in the like the very first audition I just felt such a really beautiful connection with
Everyone especially John and are you gaining more confidence as each audition continues or are you still living in the state of anxiety I think I felt a lot of anticip excitement and positive anxiousness but I never felt afraid I felt grateful and excited and inspired and prepared um but John made me feel so comfortable and the thing that I was really excited by and grateful for um and that surprised me in a big way was um he loved the little risky choices that I I was making that were not to the Bible that were like not not what like I kind
Of like grew up listening to yeah and um he loved it and he was like I love that that’s fun that’s really cool let’s like keep playing I love when you play so that was really exciting to me because I was like oh this is in the hands of someone who is just here to like catch butterflies he’s inspired and he knows he knows every single inch of it he loves every single inch of it but that is what’s so beautiful is that he is inspiring play and truth and listening and reacting which is basically the whole point of everything but he’s not
Here to to bring the stage show to the screen he’s here to kind of maximize how we’re telling this story and get to know these women in a new way right he’s not looking for impressions of no it was really it felt really beautiful that immediately he was like keep playing this is so fun and I was like oh my goodness I feel safe and positive and just this like thoughtful amazing human being is in charge and I love knowing that as a fan even if I don’t get this part I [ __ ] love his attitude towards this it’s right and it’s and it shows how much he
Loves and cares about it so that was I felt a really immediate connection with him and um yeah I remember Tiffany little from um telsey casting was my alpab bed during popular and she had her mask she had a mask on because it was like there was a random Co wave in LA and and they had to postpone the Fiero auditions because all of The Fieros had Co and so she was wearing a mask and I’m it was just the sweetest thing because I could her eyes were smiling and I loved knowing that she was giggling and it was really sweet i’ll
Never forget that well so that’s interesting growing up as a fan of the show how do you reconcile now having to audition for the part how much of okay I’m going to emulate what I know to be this character or I’m going to bring my own unique take to it well I think that’s the thing is that being a fan of something and then living it and um kind of taking it on in this insanely personal intimate way are two completely different things and I wanted to make that that differentiation immediately I was like okay I’m not going
To watch or listen to you know anything right now I want to basically just get to know this girl and read the script a million times with with Nancy and ask all these questions and kind of find my Glinda while also finding certain physicalities and familiarities to honor what we all have known in love for so many years because there is a specific galinda type thing you know that is written this role was written so beautifully and iconically and brilliantly by Kristen and Winnie you know that was a very collaborative thing a lot of the most
Iconic lines in the state show were adlibs by Kristen so it’s it for me was about finding that balance because it has to be truthful it can’t be an impersonation because that’s very easy to do right and um you know lines that have i’ve heard and i’ve known for 20 years take on a very new meaning when you break them down and look at them differently you know especially given your like personal closeness to the source material just like as a person with a friendship with another person is there um guidance that
Came from Kristen was she very was she more like she let you do your own thing she when did you tell her you were going in for it yeah oh my God okay so we had talked about it for years and years and years and um but not but me finally confessing to her that I wanted to go in for Glinda was like a whole different thing and I finally confessed to her I was because I sing Wizard and I on the The Anniversary Special so I think she assumed you know like okay yeah let’s do that let’s totally do that um but I finally I Confessor I said hey like I
Think they’re doing this now and I think that I want to go Linda and she went into the bathroom and like closed the door and started crying and she was just like the it was the sweetest thing in the world oh my God makes me well I was so cute and she was just like she was just like oh my God like I was hoping this would happen like I love you and I and I trust you with it baby girl she was like just do your thing she was like just do your thing she was like you are so funny and you have great instincts and no one knows
That you’re going to back door them she said and I was like okay so she was yeah she had a very positive a positive reaction thankfully and she was very supportive but I didn’t send her things I didn’t I didn’t go over the material with her I I I kind of just wanted to keep to myself I I kept to myself so much from my family from Christen from every one from my I like I didn’t want to talk about it I just didn’t want to talk about it at all and um and we she would check in on me and tell me things she was hearing and it
Was very sweet and very supportive but I I think she still hasn’t um heard or seen Mike Linda yet so I’m excited we’re gonna she’s going to see it on she’s going to see it on the 28th so I’m excited I think um I hope she feels how much this film is a love letter to her and Adena while also we wanted to also do our own alphaba and Glinda for this as well and I hope that I think it’ll make I think it might make her really happy yeah I think so what’s interesting about Glinda in the movie is she has all of the like stage Glenda
Isms the classic lines that you would want from Glenda but then they also wrote a lot of new ones for you that you put your own spin on that I think are going to be Canon thank you I I’m I’m so grateful to hear you say that cuz I ad lived a lot of them and I’m surprised that they made them into the movie I was really I was really shocked that they made them in but that’s what I’m saying about John he was just like play play play and he trusted us so implicitly so I played and then I was like oh my God they made wait I don’t remember I don’t
Remember saying that and be it’s in the film that’s crazy I can’t believe any of my nonsense is I love air and AD I don’t remember maybe probably the ones that I know for sure were um I couldn’t possibly this is your moment I’m coming oh my God and that was just like he was like they’re selling the movie with that line I was so excited I was like wait it made it into a trailer that’s crazy I I don’t know there was a bunch of surprising lovely moments like that that I couldn’t believe even made it in but yeah from first audition to that
Zoom call that we’ve all seen how long was that period um I can’t tell if he just is upset with a animal if he wants to come in um from the first audition to getting the call was 3 months it’s pretty condensed All Things Considered but it felt like 14 years yeah 14 years when you got the call you said I’m going to take such good care of her what does that mean to you I think what that meant to me was that this was going to have all of me you know there wasn’t uh going to be any other thing in my brain or in my
Work load like I wasn’t going to be writing music I wasn’t going to be um on as many of my uh calls that I’m usually on for my beauty and my fragrance and my other things that I think require more of me than people would assume but all of that was kind of like I was like hi to my team I love you very much what I’m going to do is I’m going to be gone love you so much um and I I really try to give my my full self to her and um just honor her and do the work as best as I could you know right as somebody who does have lots going on constantly and
Lots of different plates spinning at once was it what was it like kind of letting other people keep the other plates spinning while you focused on one thing no I’m kidding I’m kidding I’m kidding I’m kidding no I have I have an incredible team that really really took care of the other departments you know during that time um but you know I’m a very Hands-On person um with everything that I do I’m very Hands-On so that was very hard for me but it was a lot easier because I was playing GL you know that’s like the idea of that the idea of that
Is not an option to me like there’s no other thing there’s no other time that I would really ever do that but step that far back from things yeah I had like a separate phone for the first few months like I had a a pink phone like you know it was like I was gone I was gone I I I just wanted to fully be there and be as present as as humanly possible and you know know everything I needed know read every book read everything do all the things and give myself over entirely I didn’t write music I didn’t I I did one
Feature at the very beginning um and then that was kind of it I mean I think in watching from an outside perspective you have done such a beautiful job at balancing Ariana Grande TM duties and Ariana Grande Glenda duties and I think that’s like only goes to show how much you care about this project in particular it it rings true and is very clear that you are devoting a large amount of your time and energy to making sure that this project is done correctly thank you that means a lot especially coming from you
Too but yeah it’s it’s when something once in a lifetime like this happens like every single second counts you know yeah and it’s like yeah it deserves all of us and the best of us what were you most scared about you get the offer now you’re so happy and excited now I have to do it oh my God wait I hope it goes well then what is the anxiety after you’re over the excitement what is keeping you up at night like oh my God I think um you know I I felt um a little bit of the um 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 you know I think of course like any human being caring something about something they care so much about like that you know this it’s been a great secret you know they didn’t get to see any auditions or no anything so you know going off of side to side I probably would have said the same thing I probably would have said said why the [ __ ] kill me i’ve waited 20 years for this kill kill me i’ve waited yeah you know like I would I would have said that
As a as a fan from the outside knowing of only of only seven rings probably I’d say well that’s [ __ ] so you know I I get it but I think that initially in the beginning I was like okay I’m going to try to turn that off and just do the work keep my blinders on and and and focus and train and do do the best I can um but I think that was an initial like a little bit of a gulp moment um yeah but I tried not to let it derail me I was going to say like do you feel a satisfaction in like surprising people this way I think I just feel like a
A tremendous gratitude you know I I think like to see the wicked fans um like Embrace at all you know it’s just like really it’s really special it’s really yeah that that’s the feeling I can just gratitude really was there something that you like couldn’t wait for like something that you were like I can’t wait to do this with my galinda I mean I love improv and I love playing so there were a lot of there was so much space to try and play and hopefully make Cynthia break and laugh or Michelle or so you know I I love that
I I love making people laugh and I was just so excited because um it’s my favorite thing genuinely I think making people laugh is M if I had to put everything on a whatever it would be my favorite so I think that was the thing I was most excited for because Glenda there’s so much room for play and you can deliver the same line you know really heartfully as some of these lines are designed to do both and that’s what I think the beauty of Glenda is is because some of the things she saying are really hilarious to
Someone else but she means them in like the most beautiful way and that’s my that’s my favorite thing about her it’s like you don’t have to play the joke because what she’s actually feeling is funny to begin with and the fact that her heart you know you know it’s just kind of that is the joke so there’s so many different ways so I think playing and um John just encouraging encouraging it was something I was really excited for I yeah and we were saying after seeing the movie your Glenda is so matter of fact like all the
Funny almost goes over your head which then makes it more funny for the audience thank you thank you so tell us about the first time you and Cynthia were in a room together after having gotten the roles well we facetimed for the first time like 15 minutes before the announcement went out I’m not kidding we had no idea no not 15 minutes it was like 4 hours okay and we had sent each other flowers and we had like but we hadn’t been able to connect yet cuz we were both busy doing stuff and and we were like oh my
God this is happening now it’s happening now so we met we met over facetime and I immediately loved her obviously of course um and then that was the first time she did not chemistry read with her no we both we both read with oh my God holy [ __ ] where and then we met for the first time in person at John’s house he had a welcome dinner and uh was it nerve-racking that you hadn’t chemistry read with her and we’re now going into this no I I don’t know why I think I just I know of her greatness of course and I know that
She’s the best you know most formidable actress in singer that there is so that part was easy you know and um I felt a kindness from her the first time we connected and I knew we’d be okay and also we had a really real conversation at the very beginning um just kind of about what we’re not going to do and how we’re not going to be and what we’re not going to allow um and you guys are signed up for this two plus year Journey now oh it’s already been it’s already been three hasn’t it right and now you have two more years
Right exactly and I think like even aside from like the the time commitment it just it’s just deserving of of the best of us and that requires real honesty and real trust this whole movie is not going to work you can spend as much money as you want on on flying monkeys in the air and and you know talking brilliant goats which we’ll get to that we’ll get to that later we need a full hour second episode but but you know it really has to it really falls on Alaba and Glinda to yeah to take care of each other and I think that that is I
Think that’s really palpable when you see it um and I I hope so you know I think it us taking care of each other and forming um a real true friendship um and being honest with each other about everything always at all times you know being there for each other when we’re in a silly mood when someone needs like you know like all of it leaving space for everything and getting to know each other in that way where like I can just look at her and I know and I know what she’s thinking and she can just look at me and
She knows exactly what you know and helping each other too it’s like we immediately formed that because without that nothing else Works Nothing Else Matters and works i’ve never done this but it’s really nice and satisfying I’m like doing this i’ve been loving it because I’m talking about Cynthia and I’m doing nails because I’m talking about Sin no but that was an immediate commitment you know we had that conversation we were like hey let’s do this for real well and it’s like such a I mean relatively like such
A simple decision to make like hey you and me are signed up for this like five yearlong thing together like we need to choose now to make this a good experience yeah but it’s it’s also it’s also really hard work though because to commit to to hold yourself to that right yeah because we need to to be there for each other and there’s not a battle that she has to fight alone or that I have to fight alone you know there are there are many you know little challenges along the way and being there for each other and having each other um through
It all the highs and lows and mids and ups and down and everything in between was was truly was truly a magnificent gift there’s nothing we can’t talk about and didn’t right it’s nice too because you know we hear a lot of the women who do the show on Broadway talk about like the green girl Sisterhood that it’s like whenever a new alphaba gets cast it’s always like messages or whatever from all the previous but like you two are the only two in the world who know what it’s like to play these characters on film for 12-hour days for months on end
And you doing it in such a vacuum right so you it’s like the the importance of that support system is it makes me very happy that you guys had that in each other me too it’s um it’s really beautiful they really is and it reads it’s so palpable thank you so what was something as you’re shooting the movie what was something that you learned about Glenda that was surprising to you I mean I think I learned this in the preparation leading up to leading up to i’ll try to think about something new that I learned doing filming because things really took
On a whole new life once you actually get there are filming but I think the thing that I learned in digging into her in this way preparing whatever was um like why I love her and feel so connected to her cuz obviously it’s like the comedy and the high notes and I love all of those things but I think also um there’s a very specific thing about kind of her um relationship to the aians and kind of that love that they give her and that validation that they give her and her kind of hoping for the good in them and kind of like trying to spoon feed
Them and no one wants the wicked she’s trying to spoon feed them this opportunity she’s like hey wait hold on just can’t wait just for one second can’t you just consider that this happened to her and um you know there’s this there’s this typ rope that she walks and there’s grief and loss and tragedy that she has to stomach while also performing for these people that she feels need her while she’s also needing so much and and that is like a specific thing it’s a specific thing you know that yeah I think Kevin had said the casting came
Out it is really inspired casting because in a lot of ways you are our cultures modern day Glenda and so it’s like really cool to see The Meta narratives oh my God you are a Believer that’s so nice H oh yeah I’m kidding clyp never a doubt in my mind I’m kidding I’m kidding no but I think I think what became like so clear to me when I was actually digging into the material was was was that and you know just kind of I was like oh wow I feel like this song like I feel like thank goodness was like written for me like I
Feel like that’s like a moment that I have lived in real life and I think that I was kind of surprised by the things that I thought made me feel so connected to her being like third and fourth on the list you know right that’s yeah am it was a healing thing to get to know her and spend time with her can we talk about popular please yes oh my God it is one insane on screen how much of that was blocked and choreographed and how much of that is you on set in the room playing and figuring it out as you go so a lot of all of it was blocked and
Choreographed okay some pieces were blocked and choreographed on day one like my very first day was popular in rehearsals with um Chris and Leah and will and comfort um but it was funny because I was so grateful because Chris was so collaborative and like a lot of the bits didn’t have as many like jokes like it was highly choreographed and it was but we got to make it galifi and it was very like collaborative and fun and silly um like i’ll never forget when we found the bit where I’m gonna like spin the ball and it falls off my finger and I am
I’m sure that it’s still there and like you know in the beginning they were like we have to teach you how to do that so it stays in your finger I was like no you don’t I was like you can’t you’re not teach me no no no no no that’s the joke we have to do the joke that’s the joke right right and then and then like throw the wand and don’t let me catch it you know like that’s the bit you know we had so much time to to work on that choreography and and um I have so many long videos on my phone of us just doing it in the rehearsal space
Full ful through full out me and Cynthia running around you know when you shoot it it’s like chunk per chunk like little section by section but we were rehearsing it in full um most of the time and the only section that was separate was the hallway because that was a random decision last minute a day before we filmed a day before we started filming cuz we weren’t sure if we were going to use the the classic ending of popular or if we were going to use the version with the modulations and with the key Chang which Kevin died when that
Happened squealed oh my God oh my God it’s so good it’s so good that makes me so happy but we we we we weren’t decided like we didn’t know we if it was right or if it was too much like we didn’t know until like two days before Alice and and John were like looking at the shit’s hallway and they were like this hallway is so beautiful like what do we do like how can we utilize this set it’s insane Ariana go Spin and Chris Scott was like wait a minute I have an idea and he they put on the extended outro and he just kind of
Did this like like down the hallway and whatever blah blah blah and I as a joke I as a joke one day in rehearsal did like a kick and he was like what the what is that and I was like I don’t know and he was like you’re doing that I’m finding a place for that so that’s how that kind of came along it was 2 days before um and I had just recovered from covid and I still had a mask on and he was teaching me the choreography in the hallway and we we decided and we went for it I mean he choreographed it in in minutes and wow we all were like we have
To do it we’re doing it so that was not even planned even there’s a there’s a Melody shift in popular that I can’t recreate right now but do you know what I’m talking about there’s like a slight Melody shift in the vers or chorus of the song that you do I don’t know I I’m so I don’t remember you’re like in your version can do you remember is it like an ad is like an ad liby thing or is it like an ALT it’s like an ALT note that happens twice so it must be like on a verse or chorus or something that’s slightly po l r yes that that’s her yes
I imagine there’s a million versions of every song on records somewhere how were you going into it deciding I want to do this exactly as is or I want to add my own flare to it because I also think something that you and Cynthia both do is yes there are vocal moments where you add your own flare but for the most part you’re giving true to form musical theater performances of these songs which I think is really good for the longevity of this soundtrack in your versions and will help it live on thank you I think it was I mean I’m such a um
A purist in that way you know I I believe in I I love this original you know Wicked Music so much I wanted to kind of be as as as Bible as possible but also offer kind of little nuances and choices where it felt authentic or where it felt like not too much or you know Justified or whatever a little bit so finding that little balance was um really fun you know a lot of times we would do things differently just on set but the instead of J Who You Are well are and then the the second time I do it I don’t remember but um I did that in my
Audition I think I think that was something I I think that’s something that came with me the whole way but wow one of my favorite alphab B ones um this L the whole scale MH I love it just sitting on a bench just the bench and the scale just a bench and a full scale I love it so much when the casting dropped we were like Cynthia’s going to be an I’m not that girl alphaba like it’s not even one of the big three we’re like can just tell like she’s going to unlock something with that in her storytelling way and boy did she did my
Favorite thing about that performance is when she’s on the bench and she goes I’m not like in a way that’s like yeah I’m not and great well and that was something beautiful about her character go ahead no I’m just saying isn’t that such a beautiful Choice oh yes it is and like her whole take on alphaba is I’m not angry at the world for not liking me this is all i’ve ever known and so why would I expect sh from stage to screen I love it so okay you had us a while ago that you felt like the fan girl gatekeeper on set
In making sure that specific moments kind of kept their integrity do you have an example of one of those moments in the film um well the wizard will see you now was who rang that Bell that was GNA go that’s the first one I can think of the first one I can think of was The Wizard will see you now was missing I wow revolts there had been riots in the street no I was I was sick to my stomach I’m telling you this was this was the craziest moment of my life he okay this is the honest to God true story true story ready this is a full this is my
Full honest to God truth accurate representation of the story John can John can completely come to my side and tell I he sends me okay so I got the role so exciting oh my God I can’t believe it we’re going to London yeah they send the script finally we finally have the script and a cast and everyone’s on board and we’re doing it they send the script listen the script it’s my first time reading the wicked movie script wow and are you crying yes the whole time of course but I finish and I text John and I literally I
Literally said please call me and he was he was like what are you okay and I said I don’t think I am we need to talk and he said oh no oh my God okay I’m stepping out he has like 17 children he was like hold on i’ll be right back hold on and he steps out and he calls me and he was like what’s wrong and I was like what is this who rang that Bell we can’t do that he was like what are you talking about I was like it has to be the way we see you now are you crazy and then I called Cynthia and I was like Cynthia Cynthia did you finish the script and
She was like yeah I’m almost I’m almost done babe and I was like did you see it and she’s like you see what I was like did you see the [ __ ] wizard will see you now is missing she was like what are you talking about and she was like I just skipped ahead and I was like look it’s not there it’s who rang that Bell I get it that’s totally cool I get it I get that as well that holds value and I get it there’s value there for sure no no it’s not we called John together to address this massive problem it was our first conversation after the scrip like
Joh is like God these ladies the first thing on our task list we literally bombarded him we I add her into the chat we both the second we like we have to handle this it can’t be that it needs to be the way supposed to you now I’m not kidding it has to be that and we were like just we had to handle it it was urgent it was I was I was Lord I was floored oh my God that was for your service that’s thank you so much no totally but no it was that was one that was one little thing there were other little things um you know I wasn’t going
To arrive on the on the on the there was no moment where I’m sitting on the luggage and I tried to squeeze that in because even though but that transition with the hand in the water oh beautiful you should have seen it before VFX I had I was bald really yeah because it was no no it look beautiful now but no but I saw the first time I saw me was like oh my God the reflection I was still like working on it but the reflection in the water was like just the shape it was just like the shape of me in my hand in the water
So I was like holy [ __ ] I was like wow oh my God gold hair with a gentle curl eventually yeah yeah where is it but no um no it’s I love the transition too but no oh it’s so the suitcase moment was I that felt that felt like it had to be there in some way even if not in the same place as it usually happens um I just wanted to make sure it was there for the hearts and um few other things weren there magic wands need to have need to have a point wasn’t there and um something something’s very wrong I didn’t get my way I need to lie
Down wasn’t there and then says we need a pastry is my favorite part of the movie it is my favorite part can we talk about bow and yang yes there is both so so good we need three more hours well we got to do another one after the movie comes out and we can like talk about yeah um I’m putting on I’m putting on lipstick cuz I’m smiling so much I’m like I’m dry hold on what has been the high and low of the journey up until this point Rose in the thorn [Music] well I think I I know this is so corny but I the low I don’t know I can’t
I think maybe how quickly everything happened and is happening it feels quick on your end it does because you’ve been in it yeah and Cynthia and I were in the Wizard’s chamber and she was like she’s like We’re going to Blink and it’s going to be May babes and I was like no and now it’s October 20th two years you know I mean later at a year and a half later and she was right it’s it was very quick but um I mean the highs I think I I learned so much from from this project and um I’m just so grateful it was just
A really I I can’t describe how special every single day was and what I have learned from Glenda and what i’ve learned from Cynthia and John and every single person involved in this and um I don’t know it’s really immeasurable I the gratitude that I feel I can’t really describe it that didn’t answer either actually was good I didn’t answer one of them answer both I didn’t answer anything what was the most challenging scene for you to shoot o in act one I guess okay yeah I was gonna go into act two but I think
Um I I think I think the oest I think Defying Gravity saying goodbye and the ozas um you know it’s a turning point for Glenda and holding space for Alaba and for Cynthia that day um you know I it’s so fun cuz I get like little heart flutters when I watch it because I like remember how anxious that scene felt you know it’s so funny it’s really strange I asked Cynthia about this because when we watched it for the first time I like felt certain things that I felt on the day when I watched them which was so weird like my heart like my
Heart started like fluttering when I like realized she was going to enter the ozdust it’s so strange and just kind of like watching her and that gut-wrenching limit um yeah I think that was a really big day and define gravity and um saying goodbye and tying her cape and saying goodbye to my friend and you know that decision um that Defying Gravity yeah chilling yeah I cried when I read that they added that or that that was there when I I was like oh that’s so valuable that’s so I’m so grateful that that’s there I just think it allows for us to
Kind of see that like this pivotal decision is happening and not decision but just kind of acceptance and is it is it relief is it fear is it everything I it’s just like a lot I don’t know it’s it’s I like that we get to see where everyone leaves off and that we get to hear synthe limited a few more times mhm I love that Edition sets up to me the second movie so well where we’re all like okay shit’s about to go down now and get a little serious oh yeah mhm I love the little insert of Nessa Rose and their father how
Brilliant is she she is so good she’s perfect unreal she’s so incredible I I know we’re not allowed to talk about it but I I can’t wait for you to see wait well that’s the thing where I’m like all the like Side characters are really going to get a chance to shine in the second movie and I just like it’s annoying to say but I want the second movie now and we hav the first me too I got to I got I I got I got to be there and watch some of it and it’s like I was dying it’s so cool it’s so good everyone is so good it’s really
Creepy sorry it’s okay we’re all in the same place mentally the screening we went to as soon as the first movie ended everyone was like play the second one good that’s great news oh my God and what I think is good about the film adaptation is on Broadway it’s very easy to get caught up into these Divas singing down and get caught up in the performance of it all and you forget that it’s a wicked is kind of centered around the Dilan storyline and animal rights it is a story about animals really we’re we’re here and all of that
Rings true in the movie in a very real way even something bad hits in the movie which I don’t know if I’d say on stage there’s I mean honestly thank God I’m so happy to hear you say that it’s really it’s taken on a life of its own in the film it’s yeah I think um we talked about too is just like the Artistry involved in the animals does so much to further the um heaviness of that plot like it hits so much harder cuz you’re looking at a goat not yeah an actor with a goat mask on and it’s like the difference that that makes
Is Paran it’s I mean he’s so beautiful Dr Dilan is the most emotional moving insane thing i’ve ever seen I really am I am thankful that he didn’t look like that in the classroom when I’m being an absolute you know what to him because I wouldn’t have gotten through the scene there’s no way I mean he’s so Ador he’s adorable and I’m being an absolute you know yeah but but also so the um the actors who were doing the physical acting for chist and dillaman oh my God I think I picture for us what it was like to be on set shooting that oh my
Goodness well Robin who plays chry um um I mean they really modeled all of ch’s movements after what he was actually physically doing in like a gray gray suit um he was just so beautiful and like such an incredible performer like the transformations scene where he’s getting his wings I was so like scared and moved there was a real person freaking out yes and what you see chry doing Robin was doing in a bodysuit and the sounds as well like all of it and he was just so beautiful so moving it was like so intense Cynthia and I both were
Like choked up like it was very intense there’s so many like brilliant I performers involved in this that I fear like without these behind the scenes pieces that I’m so happy Universal has been putting out and everything people wouldn’t be able to know about what other like this Brilliance that is happening that’s making this movie what it is like every single like Louisa who was our damand um she was reading all the monologues all the lines on the everything and physically doing the work as well and on her her like
Little like the spe spe ific arm movement things that she had to wear these little arm things so that she could be on all fours like a goat and a thing on her head withing tennis balls over here and I’m like I’m I’m gonna be a [ __ ] to tennis balls today that’s doable we see it in the movie I’m like damn that’s really intense no um yeah no but no there’s so much Brilliance behind the scenes that I think like I’m so glad Universal’s capturing and showing the world because it’s really special and I got to do some really special work with
Robin in Movie 2 as well so I I’m I love him he’s just such a beautiful chry I hope they show more footage of him being CH it’s just amazing so amazing what I will say is I feel like there’s a common fear or apprehension that I hear people have about this movie being nervous there it’s to CGI and it’s going to be very animation Vibes but I would say in watching the movie I was shocked at how real everything felt and all how practical all of the sets were in actuality oh that makes me so happy yeah I mean the only thing that is CG is um
You know the animals really everything else was there everything else we it was the it was the most insane thing these sets Nathan Crowley is the most incredible set designer in the world but just walking into like a theme park it felt like every day it was the craziest most submersive thing in the world and you know the yellow brick road and my bubble platform and it was just the munchkin Huts were actually functioning munchkin Huts oh really you’d go in there and there would be someone taking a nap and I’d be like oh
[ __ ] sorry I was like looking for I don’t know whatever finding a coffee somewhere but you know I don’t it just it was really crazy it was yeah all of it was practical and I think you felt that oh can we talk about something I think that true in this movie between you and Cynthia before you two are friends before alphab and Glendo are friends is there such a joy in taunting each other and there’s like a clear love even when you guys are being mean to each other well we admire each other it’s like flirting more than
It’s like yeah yeah how much of that was directed and established or is that something you just landed on in acting it out with them with Cynthia I think that’s just how we did it I think we couldn’t resist that urge because they don’t I mean like sure they hate each other but also they admire each other a lot I want fascinated by each other yeah she’s fascin yeah we we’re fascinated by each other I respect her talent I see that you know what I mean there’s like it’s interesting also I think the reason why we dislike each
Other is because we there’s so much that we resonate with each other we’re like oh we have a lot in common and I hate that I hate that right I don’t want to have a lot in common with this person because I think they’re the opposite of me but something feels like home and I can’t figure it out yet you know it’s like how could this person that is so supposed to be my opposite why am I like falling in love with them I can’t figure out like what’s happening I don’t know but yeah that’s just kind of how it felt and we just followed it right Kevin I
Think it’s time okay okay it’s time for our last question this how we end every interview I know are you a no one MNS the wicked galinda a popular Glinda or a thank goodness Glinda I think I’m a thank goodness Glenda for sure I think I’m like on the cusp of no one Minds The Wicked I think it’s my that’s probably my favorite to sing but I think I’m thank goodness Glinda for sure why I think just because i’ve i’ve been there and i’ve asked those same questions and i’ve felt that feeling so many times um I think um yeah it’s just like I said I
Think it’s a specific thing and um i’ve felt it and I know it and sometimes we learn the hard way that the things that make us feel most ourselves and most full are the things that maybe we have had all along or the weight that we thought this thing would hold isn’t what you thought you know um this thing that people make seem so like the end all be all goal although we’re Greatful for it and we’re going to pep ourselves up to do this job and it’s a privilege and we’re going to do it and we’re going to be good and make people
Feel good it feels so it can feel sometimes like so corrupt and empty and I think that is something that i’ve i’ve like filmed several times and um that is why I’m a thank goodness Glenda because also there’s also such a through line of of even though it’s bittersweet um there is a through line of gratitude in it and I think that’s something that has kep kept me afloat for my my my whole life even in the hardest moments and now we have to just wait until 2025 to see Ariana Grande is thank goodness it’ll fly okay we have some rapid fire
Questions that we’re going to ask all your movie castmates I hope they’re not about the moon no they’re not about Landing oh my God help me help so this can be you have to answer with one of your shiz class of 2024 castmates you can only use each name once okay okay so who was most likely to be first to set me me me or Ethan early most likely to be the last one to leave set me or John or John yeah okay okay I love this game most likely to take a Keepsake from set these are like you is this a joke is this a bit did you do this are
These all going to be you you can’t do this no okay me or Cynthia because we both stole quite a bit most likely to option up during a song oh both of us Cynthia and me her Wizard and I we didn’t even get to talk about it yet it’s the best I want to know how many options are on record in of her doing that though oh my God I have them all they’re so good they’re so good no they’re so good you have no clue sorry that’s why it’s kind of like I wish we get it’s not fair I want to do you know what I mean I want to do eight shows a
Week so we can hear the I want to hear every single C like every city should just get a different version of the songs in movie I know yes um okay sorry what was the question okay go Kevin it was an hour ago most likely to stay in character after the camera stops rolling [Laughter] um you can’t do this to him this isn’t fair because you wrote them so that I’d say me for everything not true no I mean there’s actually one on here that’s designed for you and we haven’t even gotten there yet we haven’t even gotten to it I would say Cynthia I think
Everyone was a little lost in the sauce I’d say everyone and Jeff Jeff gold most likely to break character no one well everyone even when they giggled or broke was still in character that’s the thing like everyone was lost in the sauce a very dedicated group of actors was there anybody who was easier to get to giggle Michelle Michelle yeah yeah all right most likely to get the shot in one take I want to say everyone Cynthia everyone Cynthia Cynthia definely Cynthia everyone though everyone though it’s hard everyone is so good most likely to
Cry on set everyone me and ran we all cried every day that’s the thing we all cried John cried Cynthia cried I cried Johnny cried everyone cried sounds like a very beautiful environment to work it was beautiful it was really beautiful that was terrible that’s it that’s it that was it that was oh my god well thank you Ari thank you for coming on WE this is amazing i’ve been looking forward to this for such a long time I hope it was all right and I hope that you guys are happy with it and and I hope we’re going
To hang up and then remember a bunch of things that we didn’t talk about well we’ll do this again we got another year of movie time we got another movie to talk about thank God sweet well thank you so much for joining us Ariana Grande thank you for having me I had so much fun i’ll have more answers i’ll have i’ll be more concise next time
