Cynthia Erivo is happy that Ariana Grande got the role of ‘Wicked’, not other 2 ladies

In true Elphaba fashion, Cynthia Erivo couldn’t be happier for Glinda to share her magic Evil travel with her.

Erivo said it was “no surprise at all” that Ariana Grande was chosen to star opposite her in the film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical. In fact, she was relieved to learn that she would be “defying gravity” with such a skilled performer.

“Thank God,” Erivo said New York Times in a new joint interview with Grande. “Because they weren’t the two ladies I auditioned with.”

Grande shared her own reaction to finding out Erivo would be her co-star: “I said, ‘Thank God,'” the singer shared. Times.

While Erivo did not specify who she auditioned with, Reneé Rapp, Dove Cameron and Amanda Seyfried are among the actresses who have opened up about trying out for the role of Glinda. Seyfried even shared that her audition process intersected with her role as Elizabeth Holmes in Abandoned.

“I literally bent over backwards playing the hardest role of my life,” Seyfried said in 2022. “But I think it also taught me how far I’ve come as a singer, which I really wanted to prove.”

Meanwhile, Cameron said she was “so excited” that Grande, a dear friend, was cast in the film.

In Grande’s case, landing the role fulfilled a lifelong dream and gave her the chance to return to her musical theater roots.

“As soon as I got the murmur that it might be made into a movie, all I wanted was a chance to audition,” Grande shared. Times. “Some members of my team at the time said, ‘You shouldn’t even have to audition,’ and I was like, ‘You don’t understand—of course I have to. It’s something that has to be earned.’ I have so much to prove, and I threw myself at it in every way I could.”

Grande discussed the audition on a recent episode of Sentimental men podcast, explaining that the lengthy process involved singing songs for both main characters, acting out scenes from the Broadway script, and finally meeting chemistry reading hopeful Elphaba. Like Erivo, Grande read with two different actresses—whom she described as “amazing”—but neither was destined to become the Elphaba for her Glinda.

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Erivo and Grande didn’t even cross paths until after they landed their parts in the Jon M. Chu-directed film. Upon hearing the news, they made a concerted effort to become friends.

“The first time we meet, she comes to my house and we’re just talking. We’re on my floor just chatting,” Erivo said on the Nov. 10 episode of Today’s Sunday Sitdown. “And the second time we meet is at Jon’s house. He’s having dinner and then dinner’s done and we all gather around the piano and it’s the first time we sing. And it’s a really big moment for us, because we can really do this together, not only as actresses but also as singers.”

She added: “I think we both also knew that we wanted more than just this working relationship. We needed to build a friendship outside of this, and that’s what we have now.”

In theaters November 22, the first part of the two-parter Evil The film tells the origin story of Grande’s Glinda and Erivo’s Elphaba, two witches of Oz who form an unlikely friendship during their school days at Shiz University. Unbeknownst to them, they are destined to become Glinda the Good and Wicked Witch of the West, figures familiar to fans of Dorothy’s adventures in The Wizard of Oz. Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage and Bowen Yang are among the stars filling out the cast of the prequel story.